Interreligious Cooperation among Youth

Interreligious Cooperation among Youth

by Koichi Matsumoto

The Eighth World Assembly of the World Conference of Religions for Peace (WCRP VIII) is fast approaching. For the first time in the WCRP's history, in addition to the plenary and workshop sessions to be held in Kyoto, a World Youth Assembly of the WCRP will also be held in Hiroshima and Kyoto. In preparation for this, the Youth Board of the Japanese Committee of the WCRP, in cooperation with the WCRP's International Youth Committee, encouraged the WCRP to organize youth preparatory meetings around the world and provided them with comprehensive support.

Starting last year, the meetings have been held in six regions--Asia, North America, South America, Africa, the Middle East, and Europe. Many top leaders of the youth movements in these regions attended.

Though the young participants belonged to different nations and religions and spoke different languages, the harmonious atmosphere surrounding the discussions made it seem as if they were all old acquaintances. Many of them came from areas of continuing conflict. I was often struck by the sight of young people sincerely talking together about their hopes for peace. Given this kind of sincerity, I am sure that interreligious cooperation undertaken by these young people will have a bright future.

The twentieth century has been called the "Century of War," and some have said that the twenty-first century will become the "Century of Terrorism." Looking only at the surface of current events, one might easily reach that conclusion. However, my view is that the twentieth century was also the "Century of the Birth of Interreligious Cooperation," a near-miraculous event. I also think that we must work to make the twenty-first century the "Century of Further Progress in Interreligious Cooperation and the Achievement of World Peace."

The present youth leaders of the world's religions will be the ones responsible for promoting interreligious cooperation in the future. I have no doubt that in twenty or thirty years' time these young people will be at the forefront of these movements in their respective regions, and that they are growing into leaders who will exhibit greatly heightened abilities in the pursuit of world peace and interreligious cooperation.

To help realize this future, I think it is important that we should not allow this year's World Youth Assembly to be a one-time event; more meetings should be convened in its wake. In fact, plans are already under consideration for fostering a system of networking among religious youth structures at the national and regional levels, and for launching other projects from 2007 on.

At WCRP I in Kyoto in 1970, Founder Nikkyo Niwano said to the young volunteers who were helping in the work of holding the assembly: "I have put together the WCRP for you, the young people. I would like to see interreligious cooperation develop around the world with young people at its core." As WCRP VIII will also be convened in Kyoto, I think that it affords us the best opportunity for the realization of Founder Niwano's hopes for young people.

My most sincere wish is that the efforts of young people at this year's World Youth Assembly will usher in a significant new era in interreligious cooperation.

Koichi Matsumoto, director of the Youth Division of Rissho Kosei-kai, serves as a vice president of the International Youth Committee of the World Conference of Religions for Peace (WCRP).

This article was originally published in the July-September 2006 issue of Dharma World.


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