To the participants in the VIII Assembly of the World Conference of Religions for Peace Kyoto, Japan, August 25—29 2006

Dear participants in the Assembly,

I wholeheartedly greet you all who have gathered for top-level discussions of the condition and prospects of interreligious cooperation.

The World Conference of Religions for Peace is known as the most authoritative interreligious peace organization that unites many traditional religious congregations and the interreligious councils from different countries. The meetings sponsored by the Conference help believers better understand one another. It is extremely important in our age, as at times conflicts result from simple ignorance.

We ought to overcome together discord and divisions as the terrorists try to misuse the feelings of religious believers and attempts are made to make the believers clash with each other. Without any syncretism and relativism and being faithful to our concepts of the truth, we can and must cooperate so that peace prevails over enmity, freedom over unification, and friendship over hatred.

It is comforting to see that the WCRP successfully implements a number of programmes thus facilitating valuable interreligious contacts where they are urgently needed.

In our region of the world with its centuries-long experience of fruitful interreligious relations, the WCRP recommendations were used for setting up the Interreligious Council of Russia in 1997, and the Interreligious Council of the Commonwealth of Independent States in 2004. These Councils have brought cooperation among traditional religious communities to a qualitatively new level. They have made our regular common addresses and actions possible which help find answers to many questions of the present time. The World Summit of Religious Leaders took place in Moscow last July attended by over 200 religious leaders from 49 countries. The message of the forum reminded society of the unchanging spiritual values which humanity in its present spiritual turmoil needs so badly.

I wish the participants in the Assembly successful work in the good field of peacemaking, interreligious dialogue and cooperation. May the future work of the World Conference of Religions for Peace in a new period of its life be blessed and fruitful.

Patriarch Alexy of Moscow and All Russia