Senior Religious Leaders of Different Faiths to Meet
in War-Torn Sri Lanka to Build Peace
—Multi-faith delegation from seven countries
convene international summit to help resolve ethnic conflict—
(NEW YORK, 11 December 2007)—Senior religious leaders of different faiths from seven countries will work together at a Religions for Peace summit to find ways Sri Lanka’s violent ethnic conflict may be settled through peaceful means. Religions for Peace is the world’s largest and most representative multi-religious coalition.
The senior religious leaders—representing Buddhist, Christian, Muslim, and Hindu faith traditions—will convene on 11–14 December 2007 at the Public Library Auditorium in Jaffna, Sri Lanka, which is located in the highly volatile northern region of the country. A keynote address will be given by Mr. Yasushi Akashi, Representative of the Government of Japan of Peace Building, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction of Sri Lanka. Mr. Akashi has served as an Under-Secretary in the United Nations for public information, disarmament, and humanitarian and emergency relief.
The participants will hold a media conference and have a dialogue with Sri Lankan political leaders in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on 14 December 2007.
Other religious dignitaries who will participate include His Holiness Tep Vong, Great Supreme Patriarch, Kingdom of Cambodia; Ms. Ela Gandhi, Religions for Peace Honorary President and granddaughter of Mahatma Gandhi who represented the African National Congress in the South African Parliament; Mr. Mir Nawaz Khan Marwat, Moderator, Asian Conference of Religions for Peace (Pakistan); Rev. Dr. Michio T. Shinozaki, President, Rissho Kosei-kai Gakurin Seminary (Japan); and Dr. William F. Vendley, Secretary General of Religions for Peace (USA). Supporting the dialogue will be Rev. Vebjørn Horsfjord, General Secretary, European Council of Religious Leaders (Norway) and Mr. Kyoichi Sugino, Director of Inter-religious Council Development and Coordinator for Religions for Peace (Japan).
Senior religious leaders—who gathered in June at a Religions for Peace multi-faith symposium in Colombo, Sri Lanka—had pledged to hold this summit in the war-torn North to demonstrate their commitment and international solidarity for sustainable peace in the country. Participants in the Jaffna meeting will examine how the increasingly violent conflict can be settled through peaceful means utilizing the goodwill and insights of the great world religions.
[To read the post-event press release, click here.]
