April 2, 2005, was a day that will be long remembered by the people of the world, especially by religionists, as the day on which H.H. Pope John Paul II, the 264th Vicar of Christ, quietly left this world after twenty-six years of dedicated service, at the age of 84.

Thinking back, the election of John Paul II was filled with unusual events. He was the first non-Italian pope in 455 years, he was still a young man at 58 years old, and the previous pope had suddenly died after a short pontificate of some 40 days. These circumstances only accentuated how much the times had desired the entrance of John Paul II upon the scene. At the same time, it was as though God had decreed what the role of this pope in this age was�and sometimes calmly, sometimes rigorously, and sometimes passionately, he acted accordingly and left behind a great legacy.

The pope�s funeral was solemnly performed on April 8 within the Vatican, and the leaders and senior officials of several nations, joined by religious leaders from around the world, as well as by representatives of various other fields, took part in it. There were more than a million people lined up to pay their respects; at the same time, memorial masses were being said all over the world. In Japan, a memorial mass attended by H.I.H. The Crown Prince and several government representatives was held in Saint Mary�s Cathedral on April 8. It caught the attention of the public because the participants included not only Roman Catholics, but also ordinary citizens. This indicates that His Holiness�s activities were not confined to just within the Catholic Church, but involved all the people of the world.

On this occasion, I have been invited to this 19th International Meeting, �People and Religions,� hosted by the Community of Saint Egidio, and held here in Lyon, France. I feel truly honored to have been given the opportunity to speak in the session entitled �The Legacy of His Holiness Pope John Paul II.� But at the same time I feel that I am bearing a very heavy responsibility. This is because His Holiness�s legacy is so great that there is no way for me to completely relate all of it, and also because, even though it is my hope to achieve even part of that goal, that only serves to make me more aware of my own lack of the power to do so. And yet, girding myself in courage, I remember the virtue of a great pope with everyone else, and would now like to focus on the relationship between His Holiness and Japan, which had never had direct contact with any of the past popes.

The figure who served as a bridge between Japanese religionists and the Vatican was Sergio Cardinal Pignedoli, second president of the Vatican Secretariat for Non-Christians (now called the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue). Concerning Cardinal Pignedoli, His Holiness purposely mentioned him during his visit to Japan, praising his warm character, and also expressed thanks to the Japanese religionists who had been hospitable toward the cardinal�s activities. That is how much Cardinal Pignedoli was loved by Japanese religionists. In July 1978, at Lake Nemi, to the north of Rome, he had hosted the Japan-Vatican Conference of Religionists, which he began with a speech saying, �We have all gathered here in this place as men of peace, men of dialogue, and men of religion.� Those words were very rich in suggestion, and I would like to borrow them in order to talk about the legacy of the late pontiff.

First and foremost, I would like to discuss His Holiness Pope John Paul II as a �man of peace.�

More than anyone else, the pope had learned about the importance of peace through firsthand experience. The college at which he studied was closed because of the invasion of the Nazis, and in the socialism that prevailed after the war, he lived through a period during which there were great restrictions placed upon freedom of speech and freedom of religion. Also, concerning His Holiness and peace, no one can forget the appeal for peace that the pontiff made in 1981 when he visited Hiroshima, Japan, the place where humanity first experienced the horror of a nuclear blast.

He began by saying, �The reason I have visited Hiroshima is that I have the strong conviction that to remember the past is to commit oneself to the future,� indicating his outstanding determination to work for peace. In addition, the Holy Father said, �Monuments to victory not only celebrate the victory of one side, but at the same time also tell us of the death and suffering of countless others,� pointing out that seen from the self-centered attitude of the mighty, there is cause for celebration; but seen from the viewpoint of the others, of the defeated, they symbolize sorrow and suffering. He warned that, �It will not be easy to eliminate a history of hatred and hostility among men.� This year marks the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II, and at several places around the globe special events were conducted, and while I observed this phenomenon, I thought that His Holiness�s warning was indeed correct. However, His Holiness said that because �war is the work of man,� we must repeatedly tell ourselves and reflect upon the fact that war is neither unavoidable nor inevitable. This was the historic appeal that this �man of peace� made to the entire world in his remarks at Hiroshima.

Next, I would like to speak about Pope John Paul II as a �man of dialogue.� He participated in the Second Vatican Council and contributed to the drafting of Gaudium et Spes (Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World); he also sought a new role for the Catholic Church, which he bravely began to bring to fruition after he became pope. And that role was one of dialogue. He has promoted not only the existing ecumenical movement but has also exerted great efforts to strengthen improved relations with the monotheistic religions, such as Judaism and Islam; but this pope went further than any other, even traveling widely in order to take part in dialogue in Asia. During his pontificate, he traveled 104 times in order to engage in dialogue, which involved his traveling 3 times the distance to the moon.

Further, in October 1986, he convened the Day of Prayer for World Peace at Assisi, which was surely the greatest event to that time in the history of religion. That gathering made it known to the world that dialogue among religions and prayer are essential for the bringing about of world peace. Interreligious dialogue has since become the trend of the times. And in August 1987, the Religious Summit Meeting on Mount Hiei in Japan was also held for world peace in the spirit of the Assisi gathering, and, before long, several similar meetings of various religions came to be held all over the world.

At the same time, His Holiness expressed the importance of understanding and respecting the religions and cultures of others as the underlying principle in having meaningful dialogue. For example, when he came to Japan in 1981, he told Japanese religious leaders that the high morality of Japan�s society had been influenced by the Shinto teaching of �purity, straightforwardness, and sincerity,� adding that it was the spirit of Japanese Buddhism as exemplified by the words of the great leader Saicho, �To forget oneself in giving service to another is the ultimate in compassion,� that made religious dialogue possible. Also, this �man of dialogue� always acted from a standpoint of �The spirit of listening to others is strengthened by prayer, and, similarly, it is prayer that opens the human heart,� and the understanding that �Dialogue begins with opening the heart so as to be able to listen to others, and then brings justice and forgiveness, which leads to peace.�

Finally, I would like to talk about Pope John Paul II as a �man of religion.� The Holy Father lost his mother when he was 8; his older brother, when he was 11; and his father, when he was 20; thus, he underwent the sufferings of the human condition during his childhood and youth. It must have been these experiences that nurtured within him the ability to share the pain of others, which was essential to his future as a man of religion. The pope was the bastion of Catholic theology, and it is said that he interpreted doctrine strictly and conventionally. Therefore, he was seen by many to be conservative; but I think that this is a misunderstanding. When the pope died, Bishop Augustinus Jun�ichi Nomura, president of the Catholic Bishop�s Conference of Japan, described him by quoting these words from Holy Scripture: �I have fought the good fight; I have finished my course; I have kept my faith� (Tim. 4:7). The pope continued to express regret and ask for forgiveness for some of the atrocities committed in the past in the name of the Church, such as the Inquisition and the Crusades. Not only did this require an enormous reserve of courage for the pope; it also is clear that his actions were rooted in deep faith in unfailingly defending the path shown to him by God. In this way, the pope won his battle against the mistakes of the past, and instead of limiting his challenge only to the problems within the Church, he also worked hard to confront the world�s problems far and wide.

Concerning such things as ethnic strife, the war in Iraq, bioethics, international economy, racial discrimination, and destruction of the environment, in accordance with the conscience of religionists he bravely wrestled with the problems. Innovation does not necessarily mean going beyond the trend of the times or the world�s yardstick and saying what everyone wants to hear. Also, being conservative is not same as continuing to defend the outdated customs of the past. The fact that His Holiness was portrayed as having been both conservative and innovative, depending upon who described him, directly proves, it seems to me, that he was truly a �man of religion� who faithfully put into practice the will of God.

Pope John Paul II was truly �a man of peace, a man of dialogue, and a man of religion,� but he was summoned to Heaven by God and is with us no longer. Finally, I would like to conclude with the reply given by Shakyamuni Buddha on his deathbed, when his disciples said to him, �When you die, to whom shall we go for refuge? On whom shall we depend?� And the Buddha had answered, �Be a lamp unto yourselves; find refuge in the Dharma,� that is, �You should rely upon yourselves, whom I have taught; and you should walk on your own feet by making the Dharma your stronghold.�