April 2012

Focolare Leaders Visit Rissho Kosei-kai Headquarters

Five leaders of the Focolare Movement visited Rissho Kosei-kai headquarters in Tokyo on April 4 and conferred with President and Mrs. Nichiko Niwano and Rev. Masahiro Nemoto, director of the External Affairs Department. The five leaders were Mr. Dionisio Cossar and Ms. Josyane Nasr, the movement's advisors for Asian countries; Ms. Valentina Malabanan, secretary to the advisors for Asian countries; and Ms. Kumiko Kobayashi and Mr. Austin Im, representatives of the Focolare centers in Japan.

Their talk focused on the friendship between Ms. Chiara Lubich, founder of the Focolare Movement, and Rissho Kosei-kai's founder, Rev. Nikkyo Niwano, and the longstanding exchanges between the two lay religious movements. Mr. Cossar recalled his visit to Rissho Kosei-kai in 2010 with the Focolare president, Ms. Maria Voce.

They also discussed issues of common concern, including families' passing on their religious faith to their children, trust in young people, and practice of the faith in everyday life. The Focolare leaders referred to the Fifth Buddhist-Christian Symposium, to be held in Rome in May, and Gen Fest 2012, the Focolare Movement's international youth meeting, to be held from August 31 to September 2 in Budapest, Hungary.

Earlier, the Focolare leaders attended a memorial service for Founder Niwano in the Great Sacred Hall and visited the Nikkyo Niwano Memorial Museum.

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