Gapyeong, South Korea — More than 20,000 religious leaders of all faith from all over the world joined together on Sunday (Dec 5) and performed a special peace prayer for the reunification of the North and South Korea.
The peace of Korean Peninsula remains a global concern since the two countries were split in 1945.
The hybrid prayer rally, which has been viewed by one million people via various social media platforms, was likely the largest diverse interfaith gathering ever.
The event themed “restoration” was organized by the Universal Peace Federation and the Washington Times Foundation, both founded by the late Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon and Dr. Mrs. Hak Ja Han Moon.
In her welcoming address, Pastor Paula White, from the City of Destiny Church in Apopka Florida, USA and spiritual advisor to former President Donald Trump for the past 22 years, has thanked Mother Moon for her vision to hold this historic global prayer rally.
“This restoration will include… bringing forth finances and properties, and resources for ministries in order to reconstitute nations. And I believe this restoration, this reconstitution, will include the reunification of North and South Korea,” said Pastor Paula.
157 nations who have diplomatic relations with North and South Korea have performed prayers and conducted over 80 denominations for the peace and unity of the Koreas.
Participated in the prayer rally were: Bishop Munib Younan, Palestinian Bishop Emeritus of the Evangelical Lutheran Church representing Protestantism; Prof. Dr. KH Nasaruddin Umar, Grand Imam of Istiqlal National Mosque, founder of the Indonesian interfaith organization Masyarakat Dialog Antara Umat Beragama and Vice-Minister (2011–2014) in the Indonesian Ministry of Religious Affairs representing Islam; Cardinal Kelvin Felix, Roman Catholic Archbishop emeritus of Castries representing Catholicism; Rev. Tokushu Murei, from Japan representing Shintoism; Prophet Samuel Radebe, founder and leader of the Revelation Church of God in South Africa representing African Spiritualism; Dr. Khy Sovanratana, Vice-Rector at the Preah Sihanouk Raja Buddhist University in Phnom Penh, Cambodia representing Buddhism; and Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, founder of the Art of Living Foundation in India representing Hinduism.
In his message, Prof. Dr. KH Nasaruddin Umar, the Grand Imam of Istiqlal National Mosque of Indonesia, encouraged all religious leaders to stand together in unity to help resolve hatred and resentment in the Korean peninsula.
Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, founder of the Art of Living Foundation of India, explained that the importance of nurturing basic human values such as ‘to live and let live’ to create a stress-free and violent-free society.
“When there is harmony among diversity, there is peace,” he said.
Representing Buddhism was Dr. Khy Sovanratana, Vice-Rector at the Preah Sihanouk Raja Buddhist University in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. He commended Dr Moon for bringing so many religious leaders from different faiths together to bring peace to the divided Koreas.
Mother Moon, known by the title of her memoir Mother of Peace, called for religious leaders to lead the way beyond selfish secularism and materialist self-indulgence. She urged them to lead all people to return to God.
“Our earnest, sincerest wish is to unite together as one,” she said. Mother Moon continued by emphasizing that we must “find the freedom, the unity, the happiness, [and] the joy that was lost (at the time of the Fall).”
However, she cautioned, “a world of true peace and joy can only be realized when we invite God—the True Owner and Heavenly Parent—to dwell with us.”
World-class entertainment was interspersed throughout the 3-hour event. This included the Little Angels Folk Ballet, an international peace choir, religious renditions of sacred Buddhist scriptures, and a traditional Korean singer.- Malaysia World News.
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