UPF's February interfaith meeting on the 20th was one of the best so far, with 24 guests including two priests from the Traditional Catholic Church (not affiliated with Rome) and the pastor of a major Anglican church downtown.
Franco Famularo made a presentation about the World Peace Summit he had just attended in Korea. Rev. Darryl Gray, who also attended the Summit with his wife, added his own observations and said that in his opinion, as the son of a civil rights leader and a strong participant in the civil rights movement himself, the UPF is even more significant than the civil rights movement.
In Montreal UPF has the added challenge of bringing together the two linguistic and cultural groups of French and English. Guests have ranged so far from total anglophones with no French (such as the African pastor who speaks native languages, English, German and Danish but no French) to francophones with limited English who were willing to make extra effort. Attempts are being made to integrate the two, with invitations formally in both languages and hopefully lots of good will on both sides.
At the February breakfast, Isabelle Laurin did informal translation into French for the two or three guests who needed it. Next month’s presentation will be primarily in French. Organizers want to overcome the linguistic divide so people can know each other and work together.