Si è conclusa il 23 Agosto a Lindau la 10^ Assemblea Mondiale di Religions for Peace , che ha visto confrontarsi sulle grandi sfide del “cambiamento d’epoca” circa 900 partecipanti provenienti da 125 paesi ed appartenenti a tutte le tradizioni religiose. Durante l’Assemblea è stato eletto il Consiglio Mondiale di RfP, che comprende eminenti leaders delle varie tradizioni; è stata inoltre eletta Secretary General la Dr.ssa Azza Karam, che sostituisce il Dr William Vendley.

Durante l’emozionante cerimonia di chiusura rappresentanti delle varie religioni hanno letto la dichiarazione finale che era stata approvata all’unanimità dai partecipanti durante la mattinata della giornata conclusiva.

We – 900 women, men, and youth – have gathered in Lindau, Germany, coming from 125 countries for the 10th World Assembly of Religions for Peace. We are grateful for 49 years of determined focus on building peace and on speaking for those most in need. We are an alliance of care, of compassion, of love. We represent a far greater, ever growing, and ever-radiating alliance of “common action” that Religions for Peace gladly serves. In that light we acknowledge with sorrow the ways – subtle and gross – that we and our religious communities have fallen- short. Our hearts grieve over the misuse of our faiths, especially the ways they have been twisted to fuel violence and hate. Our alliance honors our religious differences, even as it serves the peace for which the human heart hungers. We gather in hope, convinced that the sacred calls all humanity into shared responsibility for our common good, care for one another, the earth, and its entire web of life. 

The burdens of the human family are well-known to us. We know too well war, how it kills, maims, and destroys the lives of the innocent. We know the crushing weight of extreme poverty, how it stunts, humiliates, and plunders. Ten percent of our human family is desperately poor. We know that more than 70 million of us no longer find shelter in the sanctuary of their homes. They are refugees, internally displaced, and persons forced to be on the move. We know we have entered a terrifying new arms race,  esented by those from the Middle East and North African Region in the Assembly plenary. Here, also, religious persons from North and South Korea have worked to construct conditions for peace on the Korean Peninsula. These religious leaders have convened privately in the Assembly to strengthen one another as partners, peacemakers, and healers. We commit to supporting their efforts in their respective countries and regions. We adopt The Peace Charter for Forgiveness and Reconciliation, convinced that transforming violent conflicts requires the healing of historical wounds and painful memories, forgiveness, and reconciliation. We commit to integrating efforts for healing into all our conflict resolution work. 

To renew our commitment to nuclear disarmament, we pledge to be a full partner of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. We condemn the existence of nuclear weapons, affirm our support for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, and will educate, mobilize, and engage religious communities toward these ends. We also call for immediate steps toward general disarmament including all weapons of destruction – conventional, nuclear, chemical, biological, and those newly emerging. 

We take heart that multi-religious actors and institutions are working to build just and harmonious societies with a vibrant spirit of care and commitment to justice. We commit to continued common action to tackle injustices, including the large scale displacement of persons, and resulting challenges from the migration crises – both for refugees and migrants and the societies where they settle. We will make the global forced migration crisis a priority for action. We will lead by example in “welcoming the other.” We commit to instilling the respect, mutuality, and solidarity that are essential to promote, build, and sustain just, harmonious, and diverse communities. A cross-cutting commitment can be education, including religious literacy, from early childhood to adults, that focuses on shared civic virtues and appreciation for social diversity. We will develop an Alliance of Virtue based on a declaration of virtues widely shared across religious traditions and other virtue heritages. 

We pledge to protect children, vulnerable individuals and communities and advocate for their human rights and well-being in the face of grave suffering. We will speak up forcefully and take action against corruption and for good governance. We commit ourselves to caring and determined effort to address the causes and reality of widespread abuses and violence, especially against women and children. We also commit to common efforts within our communities, with civil society partners and governments to ensure principled freedom of religion worldwide. We, persons of faith, yearn to protect holy sites and feel safe within them. We will preserve and protect holy sites against violence and desecration, partnering with the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations to form living rings for peace around them.

Sustainable and Integral Human Development and Protecting the Earth 

We commit to human development as set forth in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We will foster sustainable and integral human development by promoting the justice, inclusive citizenship, and equal opportunities interwoven through the SDGs. We will champion personal accountability for sustainable consumption, the dignity of labor, and equitable distribution of wealth. We will honor the insights of science and steward progress in digital technology toward the good of all. We will advance universal access to education. We will 

continue to promote the role of women and youth in society and their leadership in institutions at the local, national, regional, and global levels. 

We commit to urgent action against the climate crisis. We will mobilize religious communities to protect the earth – including the promotion of “green congregations.” Leaders and partners in the fight against environmental degradation, our Indigenous brothers and sisters remind us, “when Mother Earth suffers, human beings suffer; when human beings suffer, Mother Earth suffers.” We, guardians and caretakers of earth, endorse the Faiths for Forests Declaration. We commit to raise awareness about tropical deforestation and to educate our religious communities about the dire spiritual and sustainability crisis. We will take action to live ecologically balanced and sustainable lifestyles and advocate for government policies to protect rainforests, defend the rights of Indigenous peoples, and fulfill their pledges to the Paris Agreement on climate change. 

Guided by the principles of our own religious traditions, and respectful of religious differences, we personally commit to fostering positive peace as shared well-being. We will be partners with sincere believers of other religions and all women and men of good will to: 

- produce positive peace materials and workshops for multi-religious contexts with the Institute for Economics and Peace;

- develop tools and training on the positive roles of women in preventing and transforming conflicts, and on the issue of violence against them;

- acknowledge past hurts – including across religious traditions – and foster public acts of forgiveness and reconciliation;

- work for the well-being of refugees and migrants and develop programs of accompaniment and support;

- urge religious communities to invest their resources in alignment with achieving the SDGs;

- raise public awareness about deforestation with the Interfaith Rainforest Initiative and through the  acceptance and promotion of the Faith for Forests Declaration, take action
against climate change in general, and advocate for policies that protect the earth;

- advance reconciliation as a vital dimension of positive Peace within persons and among
communities and nations as per The Peace Charter for Forgiveness and Reconciliation;

- commit to being a full-partner to support the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear
Weapons;

- forge an Alliance of Virtue based on a declaration of virtues widely shared across religious
traditions and other virtue heritages.

We speak with humility, asking for support and blessings.