JOn the path at the Kyoto International Conference Hallust weeks ago, more than 2,000 people of faith from a hundred countries—including some of the world’s most troubled regions—gathered in Kyoto, Japan, for the Religions for Peace Eighth World Assembly. They stood fast together, condemning violence and committing to concrete ways to ease suffering and foster genuine understanding.

The burdens of the human family were too well known to the people in that conference hall. Too many of them knew too well the blood of war—how it kills, maims, and destroys the lives of the innocent. Too many of them knew too well the crushing weight of poverty—how it stunts, humiliates and plunders. Too many of them knew too well the children orphaned by HIV/AIDS, knew how their families were decimated, their schools emptied, their lives shadowed by stigma and shame. 

And yet we gathered in hope. Our faiths were different, and we respected those differences. Yet we came together full of conviction that an alliance among religious communities can set free the great river of peace that runs through the human heart. Our conviction has roots in each of our faith traditions. It is a conviction that grows through hard work, commitment and humility.

At this moment in time, our world is marked by wars, the specter of terror, vast expenditures on arms, the spread of weapons of mass destruction, outdated and inadequate notions of security, thescandal that half of us are living in dire poverty, major disease pandemics and an alreadyvulnerable earth.

And as the hour is short, a swift response is doubly urgent.

Today, our religions are being hijacked by religious extremists, hijacked by unscrupulous politicians, and hijacked by the sensationalist media. If to hijack is to seize control of a vehicle of transport and to hold its passengers hostage, then our vehicles of faith, our religions, are being hijacked, and we as a human family are being held against our will. Our vehicles of faith must be rescued from the hijackers’ grasp.

How is that done?

The short answer is that we have to do it. We must pool our collective moral strengths and build an alliance for peace.  In concert, we need to begin to forge a notion of “shared security.”

Today, my security depends on yours. At the Religions for Peace Eighth World Assembly, delegates adopted the Kyoto Declaration, which pledged, “As people of religious conviction, we hold the responsibility to confront violence within our own communities whenever religion is misused as a justification or excuse for violence.” All sectors of every society must acknowledge common vulnerabilities and assume collective responsibility to address them.

Joining us in launching this work were many of the more than 400 participants in the Women’s Assembly from sixty-five countries. They adopted a Declaration affirming, “women of faith make available strength and hope when all seems hopeless.” And, for the very first time, a Youth Assembly was formally convened by more than 300 youth. They produced their own Declaration, proclaiming: “We choose hope because that is the only way forward.” The Assembly provided an incomparable means for both women and youth to build relationships, share experiences, and forge achievable plans of action in the years to come.

Our Eighth World Assembly in Kyoto was particularly meaningful because we as the Religions for Peace family returned to the city of our birth. When our wise founders first gathered in Kyoto in 1970, the world was a far different place. We were in the grip of a Cold War, and we were confronted with nuclear proliferation and the threat of annihilation. Today, our concerns and fears are far different, but what remains the same is that our quest for peace with justice remains steadfast—as does our belief in the beauty and power of inter-religious cooperation.

We each return to our important work with renewed energy and vitality. Time is of the essence as we confront violence in our communities and assume a shared responsibility for the safety of the entire human family. But we can do it. And we can do it together.

In peace,
Dr. William F. Vendley