The Niwano Peace Prize is given to honor and encourage those devoting themselves to interreligious co-operation in the cause of peace and to make their achievements known. Its foundation hopes that the prize will further promote interreligious co-operation for peace and lead to the emergence of more people devoting themselves to this cause.
The award is given annually and consists of a certificate, a gold medal, and 20 million yen (roughly US$180,000). The screening committee, which decides the recipients, is made up of religious leaders of international stature. They select the recipient from candidates who are nominated by religious leaders and others of intellectual stature around the world.
The
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...
-based Niwano Peace Foundation was initiated by the
Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
citizen
Nikkyō Niwano
was one of the founders and the first president of the Buddhist organization Risshō Kōsei Kai. Early life
Born on November 15, 1906, to farmers, Nikkyō had a humble life in a small town. Later in his youth, he moved to Tokyo to work, where h ...
, founder of the
Buddhist
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
lay organization
Risshō Kōsei Kai; he was one of the few non-Christian observers of the
Second Vatican Council
The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions), each lasting between 8 and ...
. His son,
Nichiko Niwano, is his successor as chairman of the movement, which is dedicated to
interreligious dialogue.
Laureates
:1983: Dom
Hélder Câmara
Hélder Pessoa Câmara (7 February 1909 – 27 August 1999) was a Brazilian Catholic archbishop. A self-identified socialism, socialist, he was the Archbishop of Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Olinda e Recife, Olinda and Recife, serving from 196 ...
, Brazil
:1984:
Homer A. Jack
Homer A. Jack (May 19, 1916 – August 5, 1993) was an American Unitarian Universalist clergyman pacifist and social activist who helped found the Congress of Racial Equality and National Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy (SANE).
Early ...
, USA
:1985:
Zhao Puchu
Zhao Puchu (November 5, 1907 – May 21, 2000) was a religious and public leader who promoted cultural progress and religious tolerance in China. Zhao was best known as president of the Buddhist Association of China and also one of the most ...
, China
:1986:
Philip A. Potter, Dominica
:1987:
World Muslim Congress
The World Muslim Congress (''Motamar al-Alam al-Islami'') (Arabic: مؤتمر العالم الإسلامي) is an Islamic organization based in Karachi. Its co-founder and Secretary-General for over four decades was Inamullah Khan. It was the r ...
, Pakistan
:1988: not awarded
:1989:
Etai Yamada
The Most Venerable was the 253rd head priest of the Japanese Tendai school of Mahayana Buddhism.
In 1986, Yamada was invited by Pope John Paul II to be one of the few non-Christian religious leaders to attend the World Day of Prayer for Peace in ...
, Japan
:1990:
Norman Cousins
Norman Cousins (June 24, 1915 – November 30, 1990) was an American political journalist, author, professor, and world peace advocate.
Early life
Cousins was born to Jewish immigrant parents Samuel Cousins and Sarah Babushkin Cousins, in West ...
, USA
:1991: Dr.
Hildegard Goss-Mayr Hildegard Goss-Mayr (born 22 January 1930, Vienna) is an Austrian nonviolent activist and Christian theologian.
Life and commitment
Daughter of Kaspar Mayr, founder of the Austrian branch of the International Fellowship of Reconciliation, she studi ...
, Austria
:1992:
A. T. Ariyaratne
Sri Lankabhimanya Ahangamage Tudor Ariyaratne ( Sinhala:අහන්ගමගේ ටියුඩර් ආරියරත්න, born 5 November 1931) is a Sri Lankan founder and president of the Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement in Sri Lanka. He w ...
, Sri Lanka
:1993:
Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam, Israel
:1994: Cardinal
Paulo Evaristo Arns
Paulo Evaristo Arns OFM (; 14 September 1921 – 14 December 2016) was a Brazilian prelate of the Catholic Church, who was made a cardinal and the Archbishop of São Paulo by Pope Paul VI, and later became cardinal protopriest. His mini ...
, Archbishop of Sao Paulo, Brazil
:1995:
M. Aram, India
:1996:
Marii Hasegawa, USA
:1997:
Corrymeela Community
The Corrymeela Community was founded in 1965 by Ray Davey, along with John Morrow and Alex Watson, as an organisation seeking to aid individuals and communities which suffered through the violence and polarisation of the Northern Irish confli ...
, Northern Ireland
:1998:
Maha Ghosananda, Cambodia
:1999:
Community of Sant'Egidio
The Community of Sant'Egidio ( it, Comunità di Sant'Egidio) is a lay Catholic association dedicated to social service, founded in 1968 under the leadership of Andrea Riccardi. The group grew and in 1973 was given a home at the former Carmelit ...
, Italy
:2000: Dr.
Kang Won Yong
Dr. Kang Won Yong (October 30, 1917 – August 17, 2006) was a Christian leader, pioneer of the ecumenical movement in Korea, and an advocate for peace and reconciliation in the Korean peninsula.
In 1945, Kang established the Kyoung Dong Pr ...
, Korea
:2001:
Elias Chacour
Elias Chacour ( ar, الياس شقور, he, אליאס שקור; born 29 November 1939) is a Palestinian Arab-Israeli who served as the Archbishop of Akko, Haifa, Nazareth and All Galilee of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church from 2006 to 2014. ...
, bishop of the Melkite-Catholic Church in Israel
:2002:
Samuel Ruiz García, Bishop Emeritus of San Cristobal de las Casas, Mexico
:2003: Dr.
Scilla Elworthy, UK
:2004
Acholi Religious Leaders Peace Initiative(ARLPI), Uganda
:2005: Dr.
Hans Küng
Hans Küng (; 19 March 1928 – 6 April 2021) was a Swiss Catholic priest, theologian, and author. From 1995 he was president of the Foundation for a Global Ethic (Stiftung Weltethos).
Küng was ordained a priest in 1954, joined the faculty o ...
, Switzerland
:2006:
Rabbis for Human Rights
Rabbis for Human Rights is an Israeli human rights organization that describes itself as "the rabbinic voice of conscience in Israel, giving voice to the Jewish tradition of human rights". , Israël
:2007: Master
Cheng Yen
Cheng Yen (; born Chin-Yun Wong; 14 May 1937) is a Taiwanese Buddhist nun (bhikkhuni), teacher, and philanthropy, philanthropist. She is the founder of the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation, ordinarily referred to as Tzu Chi, a Buddh ...
, founder of
Tzu-Chi, the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu-Chi Foundation, Taiwan
:2008:
Prince El Hassan bin Talal, Jordan
:2009: Reverend Canon
Gideon Byamugisha, Uganda
:2010:
Ela Bhatt
Ela Ramesh Bhatt (7 September 1933 – 2 November 2022) was an Indian cooperative organiser, activist and Gandhian, who founded the Self-Employed Women's Association of India (SEWA) in 1972, and served as its general secretary from 1972 to 199 ...
, India
:2011:
Sulak Sivaraksa, Thailand
:2012:
Rosalina Tuyuc, Guatemala
:2013:
Gunnar Stålsett
Gunnar Johan Stålsett (born 10 February 1935, in Nordkapp) is a Norwegian theologian and politician. He was leader of the Centre Party 1977–1979, general secretary of the Lutheran World Federation 1985–1993 and bishop of Oslo, in th ...
, Norway
:2014
Dena Merriam USA
:2015:
Pastor Esther Ibanga, Nigeria
:2016:
Center for Peace Building and Reconciliation (CPBR), Sri Lanka
:2017:
Munib Younan, Palestine
:2018:
Adyan Foundation, Lebanon
:2019:
John Paul Lederach
John Paul Lederach is an American Professor of International Peacebuilding at the University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, and concurrently Distinguished Scholar at Eastern Mennonite University. He has written widely on conflict resolution ...
, USA
:2020: Ven.
Pomnyun Sunim, South Korea
:2021: Venerable , Taiwan
References
External links
Niwano Peace Prize
{{Footer Niwano Peace Prize laureates
Peace awards
Japanese awards