Welcoming message by Dr. Thomas Walsh, President of UPF International

It is a high honor and privilege to address you on this historic Founders' Tour 2011 dedicated to the theme of “Building a World of Universal Peace at a Time of Global Crisis.”

When our Founders, Rev. Dr. and Mrs. Sun Myung Moon, launched the Universal Peace Federation in September 2005, they immediately embarked on a world tour to 120 nations, carrying a message of peace, rooted in spiritual and moral principles.

This has been the constant practice of Father Moon and Mother Moon, known throughout the world as True Parents. They are carrying a God-centered, providential message to the world, calling for people of every religion, race, nationality, and culture to come together as the restored sons and daughters of one God.

The UPF Founders have long been champions of interfaith cooperation, renewal of the United Nations, and service to others. In August of 2000, just before the United Nations Millennium Summit, Father Moon addressed the United Nations with a call for the establishment of an interreligious council within the UN system, noting that religion serves as the conscience and spiritual guide for the vast majority of the world’s peoples.

Today, a decade later, we find the United Nations more aware of the importance of religious issues than ever before, and we look forward to the creation of an interreligious council in the near future.

At the core of Father and Mother Moon’s message is the ideal of the God-centered family. Since 1960, with their own Blessing in marriage, they have taught that God’s ideal of true love is to be embodied in the family and multiplied throughout the world. Many of you here this evening have participated in the World Peace Marriage Blessing and adopted as your own the values that True Parents have taught.

The Ambassadors for Peace movement is calling leaders and professionals from every field of endeavor--religion, government, academia, civil society, the private sector, sports, and the arts--to try to become, like Father Moon, a “peace-loving global citizen.” I hope all of you will continue to serve as exemplary Ambassadors for Peace in your chosen field, and endeavor to apply the great ideals and principles taught by Father Moon.

Comments

"I was so happy that Father Moon spoke about the abuse of women by some men who take many wives and that there should true love and respect between men and women." - Mrs. Ola Teresa Johnson, resident of Switzerland originally from Sierra Leone

Distinguished Rev. Moon, they call you Father! I am happy that I was able to know you. We came to see you from the Czech Republic, which is also in a deep moral, spiritual, and political crisis. That is why we are so grateful to have access to your message about the family and the renewal of spirituality in our lives. I was proud to be able to write an introduction to your autobiography in the Czech language and recognize the wealth of inspiration that it offers for our lives. Once again, thank you for your message which we will endeavor to convey to others." - Mrs. Eva Kanturkova, former Member of Parliament, writer, journalist, and dissident in the communist era

"When I recently read Obama’s biography I found it very boring. However, reading Rev. Moon’s autobiography has been a deep experience: such richness of the heart and life and so many practical details. I could not stop reading till the early hours of the morning." - Dr. Haseeb Jiryes Shehadeh, University of Helsinki, expert in Hebrew and Arabic languages

"It has been a great meeting here in Oslo. The peak was surely the presence of our beloved leader Rev. Moon. His ideas will surely contribute to stopping conflict based on difference of race, religion, and ethnicity. I am amazed at his energy and ability to speak for several hours as a man of 90+ years." - Rev. Åke Lion, retired minister of the Swedish Lutheran Church

I have been Ambassador for Peace for a few years, and I always felt that there was a special grace in it. I defended Rev. Moon’s name for some time without knowing him so well. Now I know what was the power behind my attraction to him: He is the carrier of God’s will for this time. I’m grateful for this night's life-changing experience. Rev. Moon is a true man of God who not only preaches but also lives what he preaches. Thank you again, and let’s work to build the new world of peace together. - Antonio Imeneo, High Commissioner of the World Parliament for Security and Peace

I fully share the Rev. Moon’s vision expressed by him in the speech. Especially important is the meaning of this new age in which we will recognize all humankind as part of our family under one God. Each man and woman of the third millennium has the messianic principle in himself and herself, but Rev. Moon and his wife opened the way for the new culture and God’s Kingdom on earth and in Heaven. Thanks to them we can feel as brothers and sisters in one only world family, with one lineage. - Gabriella Lavorgna, President of the “Mandir della Pace,” a spiritual group that organizes the Assisi Peace Meeting every year

The extraordinary figure of Rev. Moon, with all his communicative power, is unique in the way he changed the contemporary era. I wish to express my great joy for his presence in Rome as part of his tour. I consider this choice an expression of his love and concern for Italy, at the point that he wanted to include Rome in his life experience once again. - Lady Souad Sbai, MP, Italy

A man moved by a heavenly energy, the most important prophet of the 21st century: his words, deeply rooted in his universal faith, will soon blossom for the future generations. - Franco Bucarelli, journalist and expert on the Vatican

Rev. Moon in his speech was passionate, convincing, and constructive—really very special. I was particularly impressed by the idea of the Bering Strait [crossing] and the one between Korea and Japan. I really hope that all his dreams come true very soon. - Carlo Alberto Tabacchi, journalist and expert on international politics

This Rome tour speech of Rev. Moon was a particularly meaningful one. Rome has been a city of great spirituality but also often great intolerance. UPF is working now for human rights and true peace based especially on religious freedom. This is the result of the Rev. Moon’s hard work building so many organizations for peace, aimed at reaching people of all levels. Especially important is the effort he is making to build bridges between enemy countries, like Japan and Korea or USA and Russia. His vision is to make the people of the world closer and closer as one family. - Antonio Stango, Helsinki Committee for Human Rights and secretary at the parliament and European Union