Thousands of people from all over the world contributed to a draft charter on a multilingual website in Hebrew, Arabic, Urdu, Spanish and English; their comments were presented to the Council of Conscience, a group of notable individuals from six faith traditions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Confucianism), who met in Switzerland in February 2009 to compose the final version:

The principle of compassion lies at the heart of all religious, ethical, and spiritual traditions, calling us always to treat all others as we wish to be treated ourselves.

Compassion impels us to work tirelessly to alleviate the suffering of our fellow creatures, to dethrone ourselves from the centre of our world and put another there, and to honour the inviolable sanctity of every single human being, treating everybody, without exception, with absolute justice, equity and respect.

It is also necessary in both public and private life to refrain consistently and empathically from inflicting pain. To act or speak violently out of spite, chauvinism or self-interest, to impoverish, exploit or deny basic rights to anybody, and to incite hatred by denigrating others – even our enemies – is a denial of our common humanity.

We acknowledge that we have failed to live compassion­ately and that some have even increased the sum of human misery in the name of religion.

We therefore call upon all men and women

• To restore compassion to the centre of morality and religion To return to the ancient principle that any interpreta­tion of scripture that breeds violence, hatred, or disdain is illegitimate
• To ensure that youth are given accurate and respectful information about other traditions, religions and cultures
• To encourage a positive appreciation of cultural and religious diversity
• To cultivate an informed empathy with the suffering of all human beings – even those regarded as enemies.
• We urgently need to make compassion a clear, luminous and dynamic force in our polarized world. Rooted in a prin­cipled determination to transcend selfishness, compassion can break down political, dogmatic, ideological and religious boundaries.
• Born of our deep interdependence, compassion is essential to human relationships and to a fulfilled humanity. It is the path to enlightenment, and indispensable to the creation of a just economy and a peaceful global community.