Pope Francis sent a letter to the 30th Prayer Meeting on Mount Hiei in Kyoto, Japan, one of the most sacred Buddhist sites, inviting all religions to “pray and work together for peace”.
Cardinal John Tong Hon, Bishop-emeritus of Hong Kong, delivered the letter, addressed to Venerable Koei Morikawa, the Supreme Priest of the Tendai Buddhist Denomination, with whom the Pope met privately on September 16, 2016.
The conference will close August 6, 2017, the anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima in 1945. In addition to Cardinal Hon, the Vatican delegation to the conference included senior clerics from Japan, Sri Lanka, India and Europe.
“This annual religious summit contributes in a special way to the building up of that spirit of dialogue and friendship which allows the followers of the world’s religions to work together to open new paths for peace in our human family,” Pope Francis said.
“Prayer inspires and sustains our efforts for peace, because it helps to deepen our reciprocal respect for each other as persons, strengthens the bonds of love between us, and spurs us to make decisive efforts towards promoting just relations and fraternal solidarity.”
