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Chrysostomos: Address to World Summit 2022, Session VI
Written by Archbishop Chrysostomos (Celi), Orthodox Metropolis of Ecuador and Latin America
Saturday, February 12, 2022
Address to World Summit
February 11-13, 2022
Our world faces a multitude of challenges, from climate change and poverty to geopolitical tensions, terrorism and interreligious conflict; from family disintegration and delinquency to moral and spiritual confusion.
I am sure that you encounter many of these same challenges in your own countries and regions: in the Americas, in Africa, in Asia, in Europe, in the Middle East, and in Oceania. These problems cannot be solved through government instruments alone because their fundamental cause is not exclusively political or economic. The fundamental cause is buried deeply in the human heart: in selfishness and separation from God.
Ladies and gentlemen, for the sake of our nations and the world, we have to open our hearts and minds to receive Divine illumination.
What is needed to transform the world and achieve peace?
Distinguished leaders! It must not be forgotten that Dr. Sun Myung Moon and Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon have spent more than five decades dedicating themselves and sacrificing their family to achieve a spiritual and moral awakening that is the base of a global transformation. Along with them, a large number of believers from all over the world follow this ideal and help to make possible a joint effort.
Spiritual and moral principles do not exist for their own good. Their purpose is to serve as the base for the life in this world. That is to say, these divine principles are to build all sectors of society, including not only religion, but the spheres of government, commerce and business, education, academia, the media, culture and arts, and, most importantly, family life.
Each religious leader has very difficult battles and struggles like the ones we are also experiencing now in Latin America for the establishment of the Orthodox Faith, even encountering persecutions that come from other believers in God. This enables us to understand well that the causes that UPF addresses are at the same time part of our own challenge. Among all the causes that demand commitment and service, one that we ask God to carry out, is the definitive and total unification of the two Koreas, a cause that has also been promoted like so many others by Dr. Moon and Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon. It requires total commitment, constant effort, alignment with God’s providence, and investment in all sectors, from the base to the centers of cultural, religious, economic, and political power. The fact that this unification takes place is not a victory of two peoples, but of the whole world, and we wish is the will of God. That is what we ask for in this Think Tank 2022.
It is very difficult to have to acknowledge that religions and religious believers often stray from the true path. As such, we witness a dark side of religion, which is expressed in narrow sectarianism, extremism, fanaticism, and triumphalism. These deviations have led to serious disunity and even conflict between believers of various religions. This is why a movement like UPF to convene leaders and believers from all spiritual traditions, in mutual respect and cooperation, is so important.
Uniting our prayers, we ask God: Heavenly King, comforter, spirit of Truth that is everywhere, filling everything, Treasurer of goods and Giver of Life, come and dwell in us, come to purify our souls and grant us Peace.
To go to the World Summit 2022 Schedule page, click here.