The World Conference of Religions for Peace (WCRP) is a multireligious congress that was first convened in Kyoto in 1970. The WCRP hopes that world religionists will join the congress to share their goals and contribute to world peace in the spirit of interreligious cooperation. The WCRP membership includes religious leaders from the Baha'i; Mahayana and Therevada Buddhism; Orthodox, Protestant, and Roman Catholic Christianity; Confucianism; Hinduism; indigenous faiths; Islam; Jainism; Reform Judaism; New Religions; Shintoism; Sikhism; and Zoroastrianism. In 1973, the WCRP was granted Consultative Status, Category II by the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

Based on its nature as an action-oriented organization, the WCRP established six commissions in the fields of Conflict Transformation and Reconciliation; Human Rights and Responsibilities; the Child and the Family; Development and Ecology; Disarmament and Security; and Peace Education at its sixth assembly held at the Vatican and Riva de Garda, Italy in November 1994. The late founder of Rissho Kosei-kai, Rev. Nikkyo Niwano, delivered the opening address and joyfully welcomed the participation of Pope John Paul II, the first by a pope in a WCRP World Assembly. Since then, the congress has been vigorously involved with the conflict transformation process in the civil wars in the former Yugoslavia and Sierra Leone.

In November 1999, the seventh assembly of the WCRP was held in Amman, Jordan. More than 1,200 people, including religious leaders, government officials, and scholars from 70 countries, participated in the conference. More detailed information can be obtained from the official web site of the WCRP at the following URL:
http://www.wcrp.org/

(Photo: Japanese Committee of
the World Conference of Religions for Peace)