Rev. and Mrs. Masanobu Taniguchi’s First Lecture Tour to Europe
Seicho-No-Ie Special Conference for World Peace to Be Held in Germany under the Theme “Environmental Ethics of Christianity”
From the end of July to early August, Rev. Masanobu Taniguchi, President of Seicho-No-Ie and Mrs. Junko Taniguchi, President of Seicho-No-Ie White Dove Association, will leave on their first Lecture Tour to Europe and visit Germany and England. They will guide the Seicho-No-Ie Special Conference for World Peace in Frankfurt, Germany and give lectures at a Public Lecture in London, England.
They are scheduled to leave Japan on July 26. During their stay in Frankfurt they will guide the Special Conference for World Peace at the Maritim Hotel Frankfurt from July 30 to 31.
From August 1 to 2, Rev. and Mrs. Taniguchi will travel to Freiburg, an environmentally advanced city in southeastern Germany and visit a housing area built with environmental measures and a solar energy system research institute.
On August 3, Rev. and Mrs. Taniguchi will move to London and give lectures at a Public Lecture to be held at the Copthorne Tara Hotel on August 7. They are scheduled to return to Japan on August 11.
To be held under the theme, “Learning from Hermeneutics for Nature and Man to Live Together and Coexist,” the Special Conference will continue the study of the previous 2009 Special Conference held in Brazil and further develop it. Traditional religions failed to play an effective role in preventing the destruction of nature, but in recent years Christians, who are conscious of environmental problems, are trying to quickly modify their views of nature and establish environmental ethics. With focus on this point, the Special Conference aims to study Christianity’s scriptural interpretations and its environmental measures for global environmental problems, or the basis of their effort.
Rev. Taniguchi is scheduled to give a 50-minute concluding lecture on the second day of the Conference. Mrs. Taniguchi will give a 40-minute lecture on the first day.
Also, Prof. Dr. Markus Vogt, professor of social ethics at the Catholic Department of the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, will give a keynote lecture as a guest speaker on the first day under the title, “The Relation Between God, Nature and Man—the Modern Development of Catholic Moral Theology Seen from Interpretations of Genesis,” and also conduct a Q&A session.
Prof. Dr. Vogt is a member of the German Bishops’ Conference. After the nuclear power accident following the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake the Conference quickly announced its opposition to the use of nuclear power as a measure to solve the environmental problem. He is also working hard to promote dialogue and cooperation among not only Christianity but also other religions.
In addition, four Ordained Ministers/Assistant Minister will give presentations (about 35 minutes each) along the theme of the Conference.
The presentations are: “Study I: Learning from the German Catholic Theology” will have two parts: (1) the above-mentioned Keynote Lecture and (2) “The Path of Germany’s Views of Nature and Environmental Policy. Under (2), there will be (i) “The German View of Nature and Environmental Protection” (Rev. Dean Makinodan, Ordained Minister), and (ii) “The Path of Environmental Policies of the Federal Republic of Germany and Public Movement” (Rev. Toshiko May, Ordained Minister). Also to be introduced under the title, “Workshop: Environmental Preservation Activities in Seicho-No-Ie” are Seicho-No-Ie’s activities for the (1) “Office in the Forest,” and those in (2) South America, (3) North America (4) Europe, and (5) Canada.
The second day will have “Study II: Christian Environmental Ethics of South America and North America,” which will include (1) “Catholics in Brazil and the Other Latin American Countries” (Rev. Junji Miyaura, Ordained Minister), and (2) “Protestants in the United States” (Rev. Hideki Takao, Assistant Minister).
At the Public Lecture in London Rev. Masanobu Taniguchi will give a 45-minute lecture. Mrs. Junko Taniguchi will lecture for 25-minutes.
When the founder of Seicho-No-Ie, Rev. Masaharu Taniguchi, made a World Lecture Tour from March to October 1963, he visited European countries: England, the Netherland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, the Vatican City, and France, and gave nine Public Lectures, held discussion meetings, and met with the Pope and other enlightenment thinkers in different countries. In Germany, the site of the upcoming Special Conference, Rev. Masaharu Taniguchi stayed for 10 days from September 21 and gave four Public Lectures. Since then Readers’ Meetings and Spiritual Training Seminars have begun to be held, hence laying the foundation for propagation in Europe.
In Germany, there are currently 14 German-language publications, and Seicho-No-Ie Germany publishes the quarterly magazine, Licht Quelle. The organization for propagation activities, Seicho-No-Ie Freudeskreis in Deutchland e.V., has its office in Frankfurt. Rev. Yuji Otsuka (Ordained Minister) is stationed there and responsible for propagation and guidance for Europe. In England, the site of the Public Lecture, there are 10 Regional Lecturers, the largest number in Europe, and 363 Holy Mission Fellowship members, as of 2010. It is expected that this year’s Special Conference will give a new impetus for the further growth of the Seicho-No-Ie Movement in Europe.