At this Opening Plenary I wish to express my deep gratitude to our Japanese hosts and to the preparatory committee for inviting us to Sapporo. It is a great honour and pleasure for me to have this opportunity for personal exchange with a great number of representatives from important religious communities in the G8 countries and other regions of our world.

After being host myself for the Religious Leaders Conference in Cologne last year and as participant of the previous conference of 2006 in Moscow I am very happy that we are invited to continue our spiritual and moral commitment to the global issues which will be dealt with at the G8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit. The preferential option for the poor, the interrelatedness between human dignity and human security and finally our common responsibility as religious leaders are the three topics of my brief statement.

I.

Already for the Cologne conference we invited senior religious leaders not only from G8 countries but also from Africa, a continent rife with poverty and disadvantages. To watch our world from an African perspective continues to be a necessary exercise. All decisions taken by the G8 gatherings and other international meetings must be challenged and tested from this African point of view, the perspective of the poorest continent of our globe. When religious leaders from all over the world speak out on the most pressing issues of our time they should do this in giving a voice to Africa.

The perspective of the poor and marginalized is a perspective most religions are committed to. Therefore the notion of “just participation” was the key term of the “Call from Cologne” (2007). In this final declaration the senior religious leaders present in Cologne declared:

“Common to all our traditions is the belief that human dignity and justice are gifts from God. ... This common belief challenges us to break the chains of poverty. Our religious communities do so by strengthening the values of solidarity and social coherence in our societies, by providing education, health care and social and other welfare services and by speaking out on behalf of the poor and marginalized. We remain concerned that justice and dignity are not a reality in the lives of so many of our sisters and brothers. We acknowledge that religions still have to develop a broader co-operation for the welfare of all. But, we call on the G8 Heads of State and Government to create structures of participation and empowerment that provide for people to make choices for their well-being and the well-being of others.”

In the protestant tradition, which I represent, the preferential option for the poor is of growing importance. This notion includes a spiritual dimension as well as a social and political one. In the first part of the Christian bible shared with our Jewish sisters and brothers we find the prophetic message that God himself is on the side of the poor. Jesus of Nazareth, whom we confess as the Son of God, proclaimed that this promise becomes reality as the kingdom of God is already amongst us.

In the history of Christianity this proclamation was from time to time interpreted only in its spiritual dimension. But the insights of the Reformation underlined the responsibility of all Christians for the wellbeing also in this world. To live out of faith includes to take responsibility for the living together in society. Trusting in God and loving your neighbor are two sides of the same coin. Therefore we see it as our task to stand up for justice, to combat discrimination and marginalization, to promote peace and sustainable development. All these are shared principles of Christian churches around the world.

Churches are committed to fighting poverty and hunger across the world based on the conviction that alleviating hunger is a priority commitment based on the Christian love of neighbour. The Christian churches have founded specialised development agencies to fight poverty in the world and defend the human rights for the poor which include, among others, the "right to food" – a recognised human right enshrined in international law. The Lord's Prayer prays explicitly for the “daily bread” and underlines on this way that having enough food cannot be taken for granted. This became more and more a central element of our Christian ethic. Voluntarily we introduce that as a contribution to our interreligious dialogue.

II.

Our understanding of the human person concentrates on the basic concept of “human dignity”. In a Christian perspective this notion is rooted in the belief that human beings are created in the image of God. Humans are more blessed with talents than all other creatures. They are created in order to answer the divine word. The responsibility for the whole of creation forms a part of this answer. For a Christian understanding mutual respect and acceptance are based in the conviction that all humans are created in the image of God.

But human beings, gifted with an unvulnerable dignity, live at the same time under the conditions of vulnerability and insecurity. This is a basic experience of human history. Therefore all humans long for security for their personal life and for their living together. But security is not a value in itself. It has to serve a living together in dignity, freedom and peace. Therefore universal human rights are the consequences of the recognition and implementation of human dignity. Security will grow where human rights are respected and protected.

There is a strong interaction between human security and human development. Human dignity is their common denominator. Therefore security includes to combat poverty and to meet basic human needs.

When speaking about the fundamental term of human dignity I have to mention that the whole of creation, the whole of nature has its dignity and sacredness. Humans cannot live without their natural environment. The climate crisis shows the anthropogenic destruction of natural conditions for life. Undoubtedly the rich and industrialized countries have contributed and continue to contribute in an irresponsible way to the climate change with its enormous destructive impact on all people, in particular on the poor. Highly industrialised countries are today obliged to change their ways of production and consumption. They have most of all to stop the unsustainable ways of producing energy and of exploiting natural resources. To increase energy efficiency and to follow a line of sufficiency in personal and collective life are the main imperatives in order to limit the dangers of climate change. Adaptation to the global warming is not enough, it is moreover an imperative to limit the process of global warming.

III.

Today there is a growing awareness that all major world religions together are challenged to face the global issues that threaten mankind as well as creation as a whole. Religions provide hold to people; they proclaim divine grace and equal human dignity. But the ideals of religions can also be misused. In history many people have been horrifically degraded in the name of religions. Religions have been used und continue to be used for justifying hate and violence. But religions are capable to promote peace and justice. And this is the way which they have to choose.

Therefore religions are commonly obliged to contradict and to resist where religious feelings and convictions are misused to justify violence. To honor the divine, to respect the integrity of nature and to work for the equal dignity of human beings – that could be a common perspective for our spiritual and moral responsibility.

The ways in which religions try to develop their mutual dialogue are of utmost importance for the ways in which societies can handle tensions and differences in a peaceful manner. As representatives of different religions we are challenged to give a positive example in this respect.

I am convinced that we as religious leaders share the vision that this world can be transformed by the power of hope, love, reconciliation and peace into a world of more dignity and security for all.