Hans Kung to be Awarded 2005 Niwano Peace Prize
March 30th, 2005 by sfuqua
The Niwano Peace Foundation, a Buddhist organization that annually recognizes and honors interreligious work through the Niwano Peace Prize, will this year honor Christian theologian and interfaith activist Hans Küng at a ceremony in Tokyo, Japan, on May 11, 2005.
Buddhist Peace Prize for Swiss Theologian
swissinfo, February 22, 2005
Geneva, Switzerland — The renowned Swiss theologian, Hans Küng,
is to receive an award by the Japanese Niwano Peace Foundation.
The laureate said he would use the prize, which is worth SFr224,000
($192,275), for his Global Ethic Foundation.
The award ceremony is to take place in Tokyo on May 11. The panel said the
understanding and insight of the Catholic theologian were indispensable for
peace in the world, notably in the Middle East, Iraq and Sri Lanka.
"Together with his contributions to interfaith dialogue and
cooperation, Dr Küng’s advocacy of a global ethic as a way of
realising peace has won him recognition around the world," the Niwano
Foundation said on Tuesday.
The Niwano Peace Prize is awarded on the basis of recommendations from
more than 1,000 leading figures across the world.
Global Ethic Foundation
The 76-year-old Swiss theologian said he would use most of the prize money
to support his Global Ethic Foundation, which aims to help teach children
basic ethical rules and understanding of values.
Last year Küng received the Interfaith Education Award at the
Parliament of the World’s Religions in Barcelona.
Küng, an ordained priest, was professor of theology at Tübingen
University, Germany.
He became the first major Catholic theologian to reject papal
infallibility and repeatedly called for Pope John Paul II to step down for
health reasons.
Küng’s right to teach at Catholic universities was revoked by
the Vatican in 1979.
The Niwano Peace Foundation was set up in 1978 by Nikkyo Niwano, who
founded the Buddhist Rissho Kosei-kai organisation.
Previous prize winners include the late Brazilian archbishop Dom Helder
Camara, the Neve Shalom peace village, jointly established by Jews and
Palestinian Arabs in Israel, and the World Muslim Congress.
Reprinted from The Buddhist
Channel.
