Nostra Aetate - In Our Time

78 a commemorative speech at the opening ceremony of the sixth World Assembly of WCRP held at Synod Hall in the Vatican in November 1994. I am humbly dedicated to the activities of interreli- gious dialogue and cooperation. As I mentioned earlier, I am one of the four co-moderators of Religions for Peace (RfP), previously named WCRP, and I am very happy to be actively engaged at KAICIID. I remember my grandfather’s words: “When I called religious leaders for religious cooperation, almost every- one ridiculed me saying that religious cooperation is nonsense. Others said that you speak of religious cooper- ation because you don’t have confidence in your own faith and religion.” I am sure that the people my grandfather met while he was travelling around Japan and around the world, as well as the religious leaders who ridiculed and criticised him, must have been filled with fear, doubt and denial. Human beings are weak, myself included. Our forebears, who took a very courageous first step in Nostra Aetate together with the founding member of WCRP, finally realised the so called “Miracle of humankind – WCRP” in overcoming various obstacles and hurdles with the firm conviction that world peace cannot be created without interreligious dialogue and cooperation; that creating a platform of dialogue is inev- itable in the face of the danger that nuclear war will annihilate all of humankind. During the 50 years since its initiative, interreligious dialogue and mutual understanding have been steadily advancing. However, unfortunately, the world is being divided by ignorance, doubt and fear of each other, and directed toward conflict and antagonism. We have to take the steps of our forebears and ask ourselves again what dialogue is most needed now, and upgrade the operating system of dialogue itself. The Vatican participates as an observer in KAICIID, an initiative of former King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia. The participation can be said to have borne new fruit from the Nostra Aetate spirit of 50 years ago. Respecting, supporting, cooperating and backing the will to open dialogue provides a chance of realising a society that makes diversity more affluent in a true sense without resorting only to the value systems of the western world. BROADENING INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE AND COLLABORAT ION FOR OUR T IME Rev. Niwano at a board meeting of Religions for Peace Japan, Kyoto, 2015 © Religions for Peace Japan