Montreal, Canada - The National Holiday (Fete National) of the French-speaking province of Quebec is held every year on June 24. Thus, UPF organizers arranged to hold a traditional and interfaith barbecue when news came that the International Chairman of UPF, Dr. Charles S. Yang, would make a one-day stop in Montreal to address Ambassadors for Peace.
Although heavy rain cancelled the planned outdoor gathering, Ambassadors for Peace and UPF volunteers were not hindered from traveling from Ottawa and throughout greater Montreal and the surrounding areas to listen to Dr. Yang’s message and report about the important work of UPF worldwide.
Dr. Yang shared about the vision and teachings of the founder, the late Dr. Sun Myung Moon.
He explained that during the two decades he worked closely with the founder, Dr. Moon had emphasized a focus on building bridges for peace with religious and civic leaders regardless of religion, culture or ethnicity. Dr. Moon’s concern was focused on several trouble spots in the world including the Middle East as the home of the three major Abrahamic faiths, North East Asia where the division between North and South Korea has continued for more than 60 years, and many other areas around the world.
Emphasizing why the focus has been on bringing people of faith around the table to dialogue and find ways to collaborate, Dr. Yang brought the message home that if there cannot be peace among people of faith, there cannot be peace.
Several faith traditions were represented at the meeting including Buddhist, Christian, Jewish, Muslim and more.
Dr. Yang also shared photos of the most recent UPF activities worldwide, including a recent visit to South America and an international conference in Vladivostok, Russia on the theme “Towards a Road Map for Peace and Development in Northeast Asia: From Conflict to Dialogue on the Korean Peninsula” held on May 30. He also shared about the recent conference in Ottawa, also held on May 30 on “Peace, Order, and Good Government" and shared about various activities in Israel during the tenth anniversary of the “Mother’s Heart for Peace” pilgrimage along with the Women's Federation for World Peace (May 12-16); the celebration of the Africa Day in New York along with the African Union (May 23); and the UN International Day of Families 2014, which was celebrated in more than 30 countries around the world.
Finally, he concluded his presentation with an appeal to support the World Summit 2014 to be held in Korea from Aug. 9-13, 2014, on the theme “Peace, Security and Development.”
The evening concluded with a question-and-answer session during which Ambassadors for Peace also shared their comments on some of the visionary aspects of Dr. Moon’s proposal to build a Bering Strait crossing.
Before and after the gathering, Dr. Yang met with the Ambassadors for Peace and took countless photos.