Some News: July-September 2015

     

     On August 6, Fr. Sonoda, Sr. Maria and Fr. Franco participated in the solemn commemoration, “War never again”, of the 70th anniversary of the tragic launch of the atom bomb on the city of Hiroshima, held there by the Community of Saint Egidio with the cooperation of "Religions for peace/Japan" and "Japan's religious committee for world federation" under the auspices of the City of Hiroshima, the "Association of religions of Hiroshima Prefecture" and the Italian Embassy to Japan.

 Interreligious Meeting "Peoples and Religions"

     During these last three months the most important event for Shinmeizan was the participation of Fr. Franco Sottocornola and Sr. Maria De Giorgi in the 28th international interreligious meeting “Peoples and Religions” called by the Rome based Community of Saint Egidio. This annual event revives every year the flame first kindled by Saint John Paul II in 1986, in Assisi (Italy). This year the meeting was held in Tirana, the Capital City of Albania, on September 6-8.
After the official inauguration ceremony, held on September 6, in which also high ranking political personalities from several Countries participated, in the following days numerous Panels or “Round Tables” dealt with various subjects, all related to the general theme of this year: “Peace is always possible”. Sr. Maria De Giorgi chaired the Panel n. 7, which dealt with the topic “70 years since Hiroshima. Past and future” and was attended especially by the numerous participants of the meeting coming from Japan.  
Fr. Franco was asked to contribute to Panel n. 24: “Is dialogue still necessary?”
The meeting was crowned, as usual, with a solemn final ceremony during which an “appeal for peace” (see here below) was launched to the world.

The symposium called by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Japan

On September 26, Sr. Maria De Giorgi and Fr. Peter Sonoda participated in the symposium organized by the Subcommittee for Interreligious Dialogue of the Catholic Bishops-Conference of Japan, of which both are Consultors.
The symposium, held in Saitama, dealt with the “Role of Religions in building world peace”.  Sr. Maria participated with a paper presenting the Christian approach to the problem.  Ven. Minoru Sonoda offered the Shinto point of view, Ven. Yasushi Sato, the Oomoto approach and Ven. Gijun Sugitani the Buddhist one.
The symposium was chaired by Rev. Ryoei Miyashita, Secretary of the Bishops’ Conference and of the Subcommittee for Interreligious Dialogue and by prof. Kuniharu Tabata, member of the subcommittee. Archbishop Peter Taeko Okada of Tokyo, President of the Bishops’ Conference and of the Subcommittee, introduced the event.

The Buildings

In the last “News” of this year, we have described the natural surroundings of Shinmeizan, and the work needed for the maintenance!  This time we wish to present briefly the buildings. They play an important role in creating the “atmosphere” of the place where both the Shinmeizan Community and the guests live. 
In their simplicity, these buildings – all of them designed and built by the Architect Osafumi Nagai of Tamana, are meant to follow the cultural tradition of Japan. All of them are made with wood, and blend harmoniously with the surrounding nature. They are six in all. The Hondo is the place for prayer and for the practice of zazen. Two houses, one over the top of the hill and the other beneath it, are for the community and guests, the men in the first one, the women in the second. A fourth building, used as “Research Center”, is made of a hall for study groups and a room for consultation and research.  Finally, two “hermitages”, a bit isolated within the woods that surround the Center, are for those who wish to spend some time in still greater silence for prayer and meditation.