January 2010

Rev. Kawabata Joins U.S.-Indonesia Interfaith Forum in Jakarta, Indonesia

The U.S.-Indonesia Interfaith Forum was held January 25-27, under the theme "Building Collaborative Communities: Enhancing Cooperation among People of Different Faiths" at the Borobudur Hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia. It was co-hosted by the U.S. State Department and Indonesia's Foreign Ministry, in partnership with the World Conference of Religions for Peace.

The director of Rissho Kosei-kai's General Affairs Bureau, Rev. Takeshi Kawabata, attended on behalf of President Nichiko Niwano, who was invited as one of 10 delegates from the Asia region.

At his historic speech in Cairo, Egypt, last June, U.S. President Barack Obama said, "Around the world, we can turn dialogue into interfaith service, so bridges between peoples lead to action." Following up on his speech, the U.S. government organized a series of forums for interreligious dialogue and cooperation for leaders of religious organizations and faith-based organizations in and outside the United States.

Jakarta was chosen as the venue for first of the series of forums because Indonesia has diverse, pluralistic culture, is the largest Muslim country in the world, and has a history of religious tolerance.

Since the secretary-general of Religions for Peace, Dr. William F. Vendley, is a member of the Inter-religious Cooperation Task Force of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, the U.S. State Department requested Religions for Peace to organize the forum.

Some 40 eminent Indonesian and American religious and civic leaders took part in the forum, along with 10 religious leaders from Asia. The civil and religious leaders animatedly discussed how to cooperate in such key areas as the relief of poverty, education, climate change, and good governance. At the end of the forum on January 27, the participants adopted the Jakarta statement saying that diverse religious communities as well as civil organizations should take common actions to tackle the social problems outlined in the above four categories, and that the governments of Indonesia and the United States should support their commitments to common action.

On January 28, a ceremony inaugurating the Interreligious Council of Indonesia was held in a Jakarta hotel. It was attended by the prominent religious leaders who took part in forming the council, including K.H. Hasyim Muzadi, general chairman of Nahdlatul Ulama, and Dr. Din Syamsuddin, president of Muhammadiyah and moderator of the Asian Conference of Religions for Peace.

After the forum, Rev. Kawabata said future forums would be touchstones for Religions for Peace in winning the trust of many countries for action in the diplomatic arena. He added that Religions for Peace has had 40 years of experience and achievement in promoting interreligious dialogue worldwide. In conclusion, he said the wishes of the world religious leaders past and present, including Founder Nikkyo Niwano, who helped found Religions for Peace, would surely be fulfilled if the organization made good use of its experience to contribute to interreligious dialogue throughout the world.

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