Beyond War and Towards Reconciliation: Convening Multi-Religious Peace Roundtables
Tokyo Peace Roundtable
21-23 September 2022
Statement
We, leaders of religious institutions, bodies and faiths (Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity and Islam), from Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Myanmar, Russia, South Sudan, Syria and Ukraine, coming from contexts of conflict and war, have completed our meetings in Tokyo, on 21-23 September 2022, at the first multi-religious Peace Roundtable.
We are joined by leaders (Hindu, Jewish, Buddhist, Shinto, Christian, Muslim and Sikh) who shared their experiences of humanitarian work supported by the Multi-Religious Humanitarian Fund, from Afghanistan, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo/DRC, Thailand, and also from Ukraine.
While we differ on many aspects of our respective contexts, we are nevertheless able to come together as people of faith, and to pray together for those experiencing unimaginable suffering.
We are grateful to one another for the table we shared, and to our hosts, for convening us around this multireligious peace roundtable.
We discussed what we have learned over these three days about our own and other’s understandings of multi-religious contributions to reconciliation as a coalition of multi-religious leaders and representatives, what can we realistically do to move forward processes of reconciliation and peace.
We recognise our responsibilities to also seek to be sensitive to the power of the word, and of the imperative of truth, to serve as peacemakers, bridge builders, and to heal our war-torn communities.
We commit to ongoing dialogues, because we believe that our faiths demand us to serve a lifelong pilgrimage of Justice, to witness, and to speak our truths.
Together We call for:
- A commitment from all stakeholders to long-term processes of reconciliation, to avoid the reoccurrence of cycles of violence, based upon the need for healing and forgiveness and the charter thereof;
- A continuation of multi-religious peace dialogue roundtables, to bring together religious leaders from all sides of conflicts to share wisdom and build multi-religious cooperation and peace.
- A recognition of the sanctity of human life, and the imperative for all of us to continue to cultivate love for every single human being.
SIGNED by RLs