Budapest, Hungary—One hundred participants commemorated the centenary of the UPF founder and the 15th anniversary of the founding of UPF. To see a video summary of the event, click here.
Ambassadors for Peace responded very quickly to the call to commemorate the centenary of Rev. Sun Myung Moon’s birth and the 15th anniversary of UPF. A few hours after the event was announced, already about 30 Ambassadors for Peace had responded.
Among the participants we welcomed the consul of the Republic of Albania. UPF supporters and their guests also attended the event.
At the beginning we symbolically offered a basket of flowers to Reverend Moon, then a bouquet of flowers in remembrance of three Ambassadors for Peace who passed away this year. Interestingly, the three—representing religion, science and the media—all passed away in March.
The first speaker was Professor Dr. Judit Balázs, who summarized her experiences at the UPF World Summit 2020, which was held in February in Seoul, Korea. She emphasized that she was very touched by the Blessing event at which young people married people even from enemy nations. She expressed that this is the hope to create peace between nations that are in conflict.
The professor has worked as a peace mediator in Burundi on behalf of the Swedish government, then in Belgrade, Serbia. She was also a member of the UN committee to work out settlement plans after the Gulf War.
Dr. Balázs said she was also moved by the efforts at the World Summit for the reunification of the Korean Peninsula. She lived for 10 years in Berlin, a city that was divided, so she said she knows what it means when families are separated.
Finally she said she recognized the importance of combining Eastern and Western medicines. As an academist, she appreciated very much that Rev. Moon established several educational institutions.
Following her testimony, Tibor Krebsz, former leader of UPF-Hungary, summarized the last 15 years of UPF and explained the core values of the UPF Peace Principles.
As three Ambassadors for Peace passed away, this time three new ones were appointed and inaugurated. The first was Professor Dr. Judit Balázs. The second was Dr. Ferenc Bernáth, a doctor of arts, composer, and Guinness recorder. He organized several charity programs for Transcarpathia in Ukraine, opening the heart of donors in Hungary who offered about 33,000 USD. The third Ambassador for Peace is Mr. Janos Nagy, a representative of a civil organization. He made a lot of effort to help minority churches and communities after the Hungarian Church Law took effect in 2012.
The event concluded with beautiful performances by three Ambassadors for Peace. Dr. Monika Toth always impresses the audience with her Korean traditional dance performance.
Guests had the opportunity to look at the Centenary Exhibition in the hall. Many of them took photographs of the posters showing the life and accomplishments of Reverend Moon.