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On May 11, some 280 Soka Gakkai members from 9 African and 34 European countries held a conference at the Frankfurt Ikeda Peace Culture Centre in Germany. A delegation from Japan led by Soka Gakkai President Minoru Harada also attended. Four youth representatives from Belgium, Benin, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and France read out a youth pledge, sharing their determination to become sources of inspiration and models of action to end the history of conflict on both continents. Recalling his meeting with Pope Francis on May 10, President Harada encouraged the participants to create a century of peace and happiness.     

On May 10 and 11, Soka Gakkai Vice President Hirotsugu Terasaki attended the second World Meeting on Human Fraternity, organized by the Fratelli tutti Foundation. The meeting was held in Vatican City and in Rome, Italy, and titled #BeHuman. Some 300 speakers and guests joined 12 round tables on various themes, such as education, labor, agriculture and social media. Mr. Terasaki joined the round table on peace, along with other participants, including Nobel Peace Prize laureates Muhammad Yunus and Jody Williams as well as representatives from the International Committee of the Red Cross, the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. On May 11, Pope Francis addressed the meeting.   

On May 10, Soka Gakkai President Minoru Harada met with Pope Francis, head of the Roman Catholic Church, at the Apostolic Palace in Vatican City, Rome, Italy. The two exchanged warm greetings at the start of the meeting, which lasted for 30 minutes. President Harada conveyed his hope that, in these tumultuous times, religions that seek peace can transcend their differences and work together based on a shared love for humanity. Pope Francis thanked President Harada for these sentiments.       

On behalf of the Ikeda family, President Harada then conveyed appreciation for the condolences extended by Pope Francis through Soka Gakkai Italy on the passing of SGI President Daisaku Ikeda.

President Harada expressed his commitment to continue working together toward human happiness and world peace, and Pope Francis voiced his concern over current global challenges, stating that war signifies defeat and must be eradicated.  

On the topic of the abolition of nuclear weapons, President Harada introduced the initiatives of the Soka Gakkai toward this end under the leadership of President Ikeda. Pope Francis voiced his strong criticism of nuclear weapons and commended these efforts.   

Following his meeting with Pope Francis, President Harada met with Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, president of the Fratelli tutti Foundation. Kimiko Nagaishi, Soka Gakkai women’s leader, and Hirotsugu Terasaki, SGI director general for Peace and Global Issues, also joined the meeting.               

On May 9, Soka Gakkai President Minoru Harada, Kimiko Nagaishi, Soka Gakkai women’s leader, and SGI Director General for Peace and Global Issues Hirotsugu Terasaki visited the headquarters of the Community of Sant’Egidio in Rome, Italy. They met with the community’s founder, Andrea Riccardi, secretary general, Cesare Zucconi, and it’s secretary general of Peoples and Religions, Alberto Quattrucci. Mr. Riccardi shared his hope for further cooperation with the Soka Gakkai to promote peace and dialogue. The Community of Sant'Egidio is a Christian community that has a presence in 70 countries and is rooted in service to the poor and working for peace.

On April 29 and 30, the 2024 Vienna Conference on Autonomous Weapons Systems was hosted by the Austrian Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs. The conference was titled “Humanity at the Crossroads: Autonomous Weapons Systems and the Challenge of Regulation” and attended by over 1,000 participants from 144 states. On April 30, Hayato Yamashita, program coordinator for Peace and Global Issues, delivered a statement on behalf of the SGI (Soka Gakkai International), calling for an international treaty to prohibit and regulate autonomy in weapons systems.

On April 28, the Stop Killer Robots coalition hosted the civil society forum at which Sanya Rajpal of the SGI Office for UN Affairs joined a panel discussion on digital dehumanization and human rights, and Mr. Yamashita spoke at a workshop on interfaith perspectives on autonomous weapons. The “Automated by Design” exhibition, curated and produced by Identity 2.0 for Stop Killer Robots in partnership with Amnesty International and the SGI was also showcased throughout these events.