Ayabe is the birthplace of Oomoto, and in its main worship hall, Choseiden, religious representatives from Japan and abroad met together. They prayed for the eternal flourishing of humankind and the Earth, and discussed sacred matters in earnest.

At the end of the first Forum, we issued an appeal, which says:

1. We proclaim to all the peoples of the world that the root of all things derives from the Highest Power, and we will work to realize a life of gratitude.
2. We recognize that humans are all ultimately brothers and sisters and that the world is one, and we will work to realize a world of one human family.
3. In order to respond to the planetary crisis, we will raise the religious cooperation developed so far to the level of a global religious body. We will pray together and work for mutual exchange and cooperation.

These days the issues of peace are political, economic, and social. We are now being urged to fundamentally reexamine the present civilization and take a new look at its meanings and values both broadly and deeply in terms of its cultural and religious dimensions.

Now, humankind is facing an unprecedented epoch of technological revolution. We can call this a space age from the scientific perspective or a global age from the cultural perspective. Atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki had announced the arrival of a nuclear age when the whole of humanity might share a common fate in the extinction of the species.

At this point in time, we could comprehend the world as a whole from the global viewpoint of humanity. While denying all violence that impedes human rights, such as violation of the dignity of human life, environmental destruction, famine, poverty, oppression, discrimination, racism, war and terrorism, we could seek to build an eternal peace grounded in the law and justice. We believe this is humankind’s immediate necessity.

The most important tasks of the religions of the world today are to prevent the spread of inhumane violence such as the dreadful crime witnessed on the 11th September 2001, and to establish fair and peaceful order throughout the world.

Seventy-seven years ago, Onisaburo Deguchi, the founder of Jinrui Aizenkai, said:

"We must remove both kinds of great barriers, tangible and intangible, throughout the world. The greatest tangible barrier is externally directed military armament (apart from armaments for police) and the closing of national borders. The greatest intangible barrier is the hostility between nations and races, and also the hostility between religious groups. In order to remove these tangible barriers, we must first begin by removing the intangible barriers."

As we enter upon the new century, we wish to put an end to a history full of envy, revenge, grudge, conflict and bloodshed. This has been the karma of humankind since the time of Adam and Eve. We wish to aim at the realization of the world of peaceful coexistence and dignity of life, and to awaken to the source of human spirituality that realizes that humanity is, in essence, comprised of brothers and sisters. We also wish to establish universal ethics and values of humanity on the basis that every religion springs from the same source.