The Founder and the Second Vatican Council

The Founder and the Second Vatican Council

by Kinzo Takemura

In 1965, Rissho Kosei-kai was not yet on special terms with the Catholic Church. The invitation to Founder Niwano to attend could only have been because it was the will of God and the Buddha.

Recently, I was asked by the archivist at the Kosei Library: "Do you have the Founder's invitation to the Second Vatican Council?"

I was asked the same thing at a headquarters committee meeting the other day. Well, this is not surprising. After all, this year we'll be celebrating the centennial of Founder Niwano's birth. As everyone prepares, it's only natural that questions about the Vatican Council should be directed to me, since I was there.

The Vatican Council was a tremendous affair, years in the making. Just to give you an idea: the first session of the Council was held in 1962, and the second, in 1963. The third session was then convened in 1964. The fourth session, which commenced on September 14, 1965, and which the Founder attended, marked the closing and was designated the Holy Church Council.

Many different people were invited to the Second Vatican Council: cardinals and bishops, observers, diplomats, theologians, and members of the media. Interestingly enough, the Founder did not belong to any of these groups. In fact, I personally have no memory of his ever having received a written invitation. Simply put, the Founder wasn't invited so much as he was encouraged to attend the opening ceremony. Now, the question is: By what process did the Founder end up at the Second Vatican Council?

The Founder attended the opening ceremony of the fourth session of the Second Vatican Council in September 1965. One intermediary who made this possible was Father Joseph Spae, the first director of the Oriens Institute for Religious Studies in Tokyo. I can still recall how moved I was by Father Spae's words during our talk on an early summer day. "If President Niwano were to attend the Vatican Council, an event held only once every hundred years, he would probably be the only Buddhist in the entire world to be there." Father Spae continued, explaining that the Founder would be allowed to attend a number of sessions as a special guest of the Vatican's Secretariat for Non-Christians (now the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue). Now, it is particularly noteworthy that this special--or perhaps I should say remarkable--proposal was the brainchild of Paolo Cardinal Marella, then president of the Secretariat for Non-Christians. So you see, the Founder was, as it were, encouraged, rather than invited, to attend the Second Vatican Council.

It was the dawn of ecumenism, a movement begun by the Protestants that called for all Christians to unite, transcending the boundaries of the various churches. At the root of this movement was apprehension over the spread of Communism and a desire to refute Christianity's history of exclusion, and there is no denying that the Vatican had come to a critical juncture in its policies. Still, it was also a time when the Vatican encountered strong resistance to its new stance from many of its cardinals and bishops. In the midst of these circumstances, Father Spae and Cardinal Marella showed incredible courage and foresight in urging the Founder, a representative of an alien faith, to attend the Second Vatican Council.

Looking back, it is clear that the very unconventional invitation was only made possible by the magnanimous goodwill of Cardinal Marella. And to top it off, Father Spae gave the following three reasons why the Founder was chosen over anyone else: Rissho Kosei-kai is a moderate and trustworthy Buddhist organization; it is still guided by its founder; and it has shown remarkable growth. Well, there was no denying that all of this was true, and so it was decided to accept the gracious invitation.

Although much credit goes to the considerable efforts of Father Spae and Cardinal Marella in making the Founder's attendance possible, I also believe that at the base of all this was the will of God and the Buddha. At that time, Rissho Kosei-kai was not yet on special terms with the Catholic Church. Neither did we have any deep understanding of the Vatican Council or its significance. Finally, we had not made any overtures to the Catholic Church to be included in this event. I am convinced that for the Founder to have been chosen in the way that he was could only have been because it was the will of God and the Buddha.

At the opening ceremony to the fourth session of the Second Vatican Council, Pope Paul VI expressed the Vatican's regret for its role in creating a schism in the Christian world of the day. He asked for God's forgiveness and apologized for any wounds that may have been inflicted on others. The Founder nodded repeatedly as he listened intently to the Japanese Catholic priest interpreting at his ear. That night at the hotel, the Founder repeated over and over: "I was certainly moved by the pope's words today. It's important for those who lead to be able to express their regrets with such frankness."

Equally significant was the pope's assertion that the Catholic Church had only respect and love for those of other faiths, for this could only have reaffirmed the Founder's deep faith in the spirit of Bodhisattva Never Despise and the teaching of the One Vehicle of the Lotus Sutra.

The morning after the day of the opening ceremony, or September 15, the Founder was preparing to recite the sutras when he remarked, "Well, today is the monthly memorial day of Shakyamuni's entrance into nirvana." Having said that, he began his chanting. Just as he finished the last line, the telephone rang.

"His Holiness would like to meet Rev. Niwano today at five o'clock." I remember standing there with the receiver still in my hand, thrilled right down to my toes. Never had I felt so strongly that the Founder was one who did what was most fitting and lived in the grace of God and the Buddha.

In his audience with Pope Paul VI, the Founder carried a string of white Buddhist prayer beads. The pope enveloped the Founder's hands in his own and said with eyes aglow with prayer, "May God bless your work."

The World Conference of Religions for Peace was founded just five years after this meeting. Once during those years, a heartless article appeared in some newspaper or other stating that there was no record of Rev. Niwano's having been invited to the Second Vatican Council. But one cannot attend a Vatican Council without an invitation from someone in the Holy See. Cardinal Marella's gracious gesture was, to my mind, nothing less than an invitation.

When I spoke of this to a Christian cleric who is a close friend, he responded: "The Bible says, 'The tree is known by its fruit.' [Matt. 12:33]. Similar words can be found in the Gospel according to Luke. Rev. Niwano's few days at the Vatican Council came to bear wonderful fruit. There is much to be learned from this."

A hundred years ago, when the Founder was born into this world, there was no path before him. As he was growing up, there was only his faith in the Lotus Sutra and his deep desire to be of service to others. He had neither money nor fame. At its founding, Rissho Kosei-kai had less than thirty members. Yet with quiet dedication, he pioneered his own path, and walked that path throughout his life. We must work hard to emulate his unwavering devotion and conduct. The significance of any celebration of the Founder's centennial will be lessened if we do not do so.

Perhaps my fear is groundless, but I believe that if we should forget our memories of the Founder, we will lose strength as we go forward. Let us renew our pledge to live together by making the Founder's wish our own.

Kinzo Takemura, now retired, was the director of the Overseas Mission Office (now the International Faith Dissemination Group) of Rissho Kosei-kai and the president of Kosei Publishing Company. He served for many years as chief secretary to the late Rev. Nikkyo Niwano, founder of Rissho Kosei-kai.

This article was originally published in the April-June 2006 issue of Dharma World.


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