IIFWP Summit of World Leaders - Seoul Peace Declaration

Seoul, Korea - August 15, 2003

Major religious traditions, including heads of state and government, parliamentarians and ministers, scholars, media professionals, and civic leaders from all continents and nations, gathered for the Summit of World Leaders to consider “The World at a Turning Point: A Global Vision of Peace and Good Governance;”

Building on two recent IIFWP efforts for peace which began by establishing a foundation of reconciliation and forgiveness among Jews, Christians and Muslims, in the holy land, and expanding to a wider inter-religious assembly in America, a land founded on Christian ideals, resulting in the Jerusalem and Washington Declarations respectively, which promote the harmony of all religions; and

Affirming that God, the origin of humanity as one family, is the source of goodness, truth and love, indeed, the foundation of true and lasting peace; and

Observing that we inhabit a cosmos that has both a physical reality and a spiritual reality, which are to be unified and harmonized as a foundation for true and lasting peace; and

Confirming that peace is “the hope of all ages” and the eternal will of God, who has worked His providence in history through all religions in order to establish a kingdom of true love and peace; and

Expressing our gratitude for Reverend and Mrs. Sun Myung Moon’s visionary leadership as True Parents, True Teachers and True Owners, who founded and articulated the unifying vision and principles of the IIFWP.

We therefore:

1. Resolve to uphold the imperative for inter-religious harmony and cooperation as an essential foundation for peace, security and human development worldwide, and apply ourselves most seriously to the task of building bonds of heart among believers of all traditions;

2. Dedicate ourselves to peace and the fulfillment of God’s ideal, for the sake of the coming generations, particularly through the establishment of blessed families of true love that apply the principle of living for the sake of others and go beyond the barriers of race, religion and nationality;

3. Acknowledge that we, from every nation, religion and race, have in many ways fallen short of the ideals that we should uphold, and that in some instances we have wronged one another and, therefore, must repent, seek forgiveness and initiate acts of reconciliation for the sake of peace; and

4. Support the proposal for an Inter-religious Council at the United Nations, presented by Dr. Sun Myung Moon in his address at the United Nations, August 18, 2000, and which is now to be taken before the 58th Session of the General Assembly by the Republic of the Philippines, calling for the General Assembly to form a Special Committee to expedite the proposal for this council at the United Nations, as a means to significantly strengthen the effectiveness of the United Nations in carrying out its urgent mission “to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war.”

Signed this 15th day of August, 2003, in Seoul, Korea.