Speech of Yoshinori Shinohara

Moderator, I would like to thank you for giving me this opportunity to speak. First of all, I would like to express my deepest respect to the Community of St. Egidio and all of you gathered here in this prayer conference, for your passion for peace and your work for the well-being of each and every human being.

 

Today, the international community faces many serious challenges of the confrontations and divisions caused by wars and conflicts. There are said to be 56 conflicts occurring worldwide at present, the largest number since World War II, and additionally, 90 or more countries are involved in cross-border conflicts. These conflicts are generating an unimaginable appalling number of victims. 

 

And those most affected are the poor. The war has increased the number of the poor. This situation has created a gap between the haves and have-nots. Currently, the wealth held by about 2,000 wealthy people is greater than the combined wealth of the 4.6 billion people who belong to the poor. The disparity between the super-rich and the rest of the population has reached unimaginable proportions, and this unethical situation cannot be overlooked by the religious. 

 

Under these circumstances, what kind of action is required of us religious people? I believe that the core of our mission as religious people is to show, based on the teachings of God and Buddha, what the future of humanity should be, and to take action to prevent humanity from approaching the verge of extinction. What is urgently needed is to stop the war as quickly as possible.

 

Since the outbreak of the Ukraine crisis in 2022, we, Religions for Peace Japan, together with our colleagues in the international network, have been working for reconciliation of conflicts around the world. One of our efforts is the Tokyo Peace Roundtable. The Tokyo Peace Roundtable is an initiative to bring religious leaders from conflict zones to Tokyo to engage in open dialogue in a safe place and to build trust between religious leaders from hostile countries. The first conference of the Tokyo Peace Roundtable was held in September 2022, and the second conference was held in February of this year. This conference was attended by religious leaders from Ukraine, Russia, Israel, Palestine, and other countries.

 

The conference had three main significances. The first was that religious leaders from Ukraine and Palestine, two sides considered to be at war with each other, attended the conference on the theme “Beyond War, Toward Reconciliation.” Both of them attended with the full knowledge that the purpose of the conference was reconciliation. In addition, these delegates did not participate as individuals, but were officially sent by their respective organizations to which they belonged. Furthermore, each religion had close ties to the government of their own country, and permission from the respective national governments was required to attend this reconciliation conference. The significance of the participation of the religious leaders in this context could be seen as an indication that while their governments have always expressed an intention to continue the war, they may also be seeking a path to reconciliation.

 

Second, all participants agreed to adopt a statement for peace. This statement strongly condemned war and violence, called for the protection of the equal dignity of life of all people, the depoliticization of humanitarian aid, the protection of places of worship, sacred sites, and other religious institutions, responses to misinformation, inflammatory media, and hate speech, and the implementation of youth exchange and humanitarian assistance. It is very significant that religious leaders from supposedly hostile parties to the conflict, agreed on these details, as this seems to have never happened before. Efforts should be made to reflect this statement at the political level from now on.

 

And third, there is a growing trust-building as human beings. No matter how much one attends this conference as a religious person with reconciliation in mind, it is very difficult for two adversaries to easily become close to each other. With tens of thousands of people killed in their own countries, it would be impossible for them to immediately open up to each other simply because they are religious. However, at this roundtable, I feel that, little by little, a human connection has been established between the parties to the conflict.

 

At this conference, not a single religious participant refused to engage in dialogue or leave the conference, and they continued to listen sincerely to each other's opinions and engage in earnest discussion. This attitude of the religious leaders at the conference certainly resulted in mutual trust. The meetings were at times intensely contentious. And before the meeting there was no greeting or conversation of any kind with each other. However, only at the end of this year's conference, did I witnessed for the first time the exchange of eye salutations between religious leaders from one of the warring parties and the spontaneous exchange of conversation as they moved from one room to another. I believe they were able to take these steps of reconciliation, because they are religious people. The religious leaders participated were always faithful to the will of God and Buddha. These may seem small things, but the fact that these relationships occurred spontaneously and trust was built between human beings, was of great significance. I believe this is the most important significance of a conference of religious leaders.

 

Unfortunately, the wars and conflicts have not yet ended. Of course, we cannot expect a war with so many casualties to end immediately after one or two conferences. However, I will persevere and continue to implement reconciliation activities through dialogue.

 

The world may be horrified by one conflict and violence after another, and even feel a sense of hopelessness. And there is a pervasive tendency to assume that more power is needed to confront conflict and violence, and to strengthen preparations for more warfare. It is precisely in this bleak and difficult international climate that the messages and actions of trust, dialogue, cooperation, reconciliation, and forgiveness become all the more necessary. Many people are undoubtedly longing for peace. I believe that it is the mission of religious people to tirelessly send out the message that we are there for the poor and vulnerable people, to encourage them, to stand in solidarity with them, and to act together with them. Thank you very much for kind attention.