The Eighth Assembly of The World Council of Religions for Peace took place in Kyoto between August 26 and 29th. Forty Anglicans attended the event .A report based on three of the delegates' accounts is due to be published in Anglican Episcopal World.

We are particularly grateful to Shinya Samuel Yawata of the NSKK Provincial Office for translating the report of his Provincial Secretary Revd Laurence Yutaka Minabe. We'll let Revd Minabe introduce the WCRP.

"The World Conference of Religions for Peace is the largest international coalition of representatives from the world's great religions dedicated to promoting peace.

Respecting religious differences while celebrating our common humanity, Religions for Peace is active on every continent and in some of the most troubled areas of the world, creating multi-religious partnerships to confront our most dire issues: stopping war, ending poverty, and protecting the earth.

Founded in 1970, Religions for Peace enables communities to unleash their enormous potential for common action. Some of Religions for Peace's recent successes include mediating dialogue among warring factions in Sierra Leone; organizing an international network of religious women's organizations; and establishing an extraordinary programme to assist the millions of children affected by Africa's AIDS pandemic, the Hope for African Children Initiative. Religions for Peace brings together hundreds of key religious leaders every five years( World Assembly) to discuss the great issues of our time."

Prior to the World Assembly a Youth Assembly and a Women's Assembly also took place in Japan. Revd Canon Alice Medcof, Toronto, Canada attended the Women's Assembly. She outlines the structure of WCRP as follows;

"The world is divided into four Regional Councils: Latin America and Caribbean, Africa, Europe, and Asia. It is hoped that North America and South America will co-operate. It is hoped to build stronger Interfaith Regional Councils in the Middle East. There are seventy Interfaith Regional Councils in various countries or groups of countries. All IRC's report excellent work. There were many vignettes in the preparatory materials of the horrors of war and violence. References to Europe, Russia, and North America, were non-existent other than to note that they produced 85% of the armaments used in the world."

Our third contributor is Revd Dr Gwynne Guibord, Consultant for Interfaith Relations, The Episcopal Church in the USA. She lists the functions of the World Assembly as multi-fold:

"examine, in depth, the theme and sub-themes of the World Assembly; review the activities of Religions for Peace since the previous World Assembly, including the activities of Regional Conferences, National Chapters, and Local Units as well as those of the International Structure; make decisions regarding the long range plans and politics of the World Conference; elect Honorary Presidents, Presidents, Treasurer, and Secretary General and consider and act upon proposals to amend the Religions for Peace Standing Rules."

The main theme of this Assembly was "Peace and Justice". Revd Minabe reflects that "There have been mutual understanding among religious leaders but I am afraid that understanding alone will not accomplish "Peace and Justice". Since religious leaders are leaders in their own country it is necessary and a good idea to reach common understanding. One case in point is the accomplishment of the Land Mine Ban Treaty in 1997.

Poverty is a part of the problem of human trafficking for minors, and young soldiers are forced to fight instead of receiving adequate education. This is a vicious cycle. To get out of the cycle most effective way is to give an adequate education, particularly to minors in less wealthy countries."

The Assembly divided into five Plenaries of four to six panelist speakers. The topics covered were; Confronting Violence and Advancing Shared Security; Advancing Shared Security through Conflict Transformation; Advancing Shared Security through Peace Building; Advancing Shared Security through Sustained Development; Mobilising Action for Shared Security. There were a number of 'notables' among the panellists for example, Prof. Hans Kung, Ela Gandhi, Rabbi David Rosen and Katherine Marshall (Director and Counsellor to the President of the World Bank). Three Commissions then reflected on the Plenaries, one on Conflict Transformation, one on Peace-Building and one on Sustainable Development. Dr Guibord joined Commission on Conflict Transformation and comments "It's very hard to be together as a group with varying degrees of experience and knowledge...It was, however, a joy to share information and to witness others become enthused with the possibility of working toward conflict resolution with and on behalf of other faith traditions. It is always a great gift to network with people."

Meanwhile Revd Minabe joined a session discussing HIV/AIDS from which he concludes "It is obvious that education will prevent this problem from spreading as will maintaining good health of mothers. There were only a few attendees from Japan simply due to lack of awareness of the problem. I believe the church has a major challenge and can contribute to maintain the integrity of the individual by eliminating prejudice and related discrimination."

Canon Medcof noted one speaker's comment that the media may portray a conflict as sect-based or religiously motivated when it is really economic; eg a dispute over oil, water, lumber, diamonds, minerals etc. She reflects further "The world's religions have experienced the abuse of their religion by those who seek to misuse religion for their own purposes. In ongoing violent conflicts around the world, religion is being misused as a justification or excuse for violence. Many see religions themselves contributing to violence in the ways they interpret and apply their religious convictions and scriptures. Religious communities and leaders must stand up, speak out and take action against the misuse of religion." One final quote on the interplay between religion and politics from one of the Assembly speakers, "When we go to politicians as religious leaders, we talk their language: their power. We do not use our religious power. Religion can transform from inside out. Religion transforms the heart. Our power can educate people about morals and ethics."

The opportunity to point out that violence may take many forms was not lost. The message from the Women's Assembly to the World Assembly was that all faith leaders need to put the issue of violence against women higher on their agendas. Ela Ghandi argued that parents must treat boys and girls equally and Prof Hans Kung said "There will be no security without respect for girls and women's sexuality." Ann Veneman, UNICEF, pointed out that women own less that 1% of the world's property. Inequality as a major cause of poverty and war is also mentioned by Revd Minabe. Reiterating his plea for more equal opportunities in education he goes on to say "By communicating with religious leaders I have learned that lack of fair distribution of wealth has created more confrontation rather than conflict among religions. We, as religious leaders, need to pray for peace in the world, but it is not enough. Even though NSKK is a minority in our society we should stand up to take an action rather than just talk." HRH Prince El Hassan bin Talal in his address at the opening ceremony suggested that $10 billion seized from Sadam Hussein's administration if released to the Iraqi people might be used to reconstruct mosques, Husseiniyat and churches. Building social bridges within diverse communities can perilous but is essential he said.

It is hard to assess the achievement of such a large and diverse gathering. The opening ceremony may have been stunning and the venue known for its architectural boldness and beauty. Some of the speakers may have run over time and curtailed the opportunity of other. WCRP may feel a little top down and the business a little prearranged or rushed but, as Dr Guibord says, "Clearly, WCRP has accomplished many extraordinary and miraculous things in different parts of the world. They have been brought to life by those hard working individuals at a local level who have made it their life's work to bring change to their hurting part of the world." To give her the last word, she concludes "The purpose of this Assembly was to address the concrete ways religious communities can work together to stop war, eliminate poverty and protect the earth. Delegates included Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jain, Muslim, Sikh, Shinto, Zoroastrian, Jewish, and Indigenous leaders. We came together to address the global challenges of our time war, disarmament, development, human rights, and our environment all from a multi-religious perspective. Was this accomplished? Ultimately, the successful outcome of such a gathering is the commitment to carry forward the work upon return to respective communities."

More on WCRP, Regional Councils, as well as speeches and the Religions for Peace Kyoto Declaration can be found at www.wcrp.org