Rome, Italy—UPF invited longtime friends and acquaintances to a one-day seminar to discuss the ideals that guide its activities.
Together with the Italian chapter of Women’s Federation for World Peace (WFWP), an affiliated organization, UPF-Italy held the seminar on July 21, 2018, at the UPF Peace Embassy outside Rome.
The 16 guests included Ambassadors for Peace and other dignitaries—a member of the diplomatic corps, two members of parliament, a political leader, teachers, a religious leader, the president of a national trade union, the president of a national human rights organization, professionals, and two young NGO leaders—in addition to nine UPF volunteers.
The program, based on the teachings of the UPF founders, consisted of three presentations, each followed by a discussion with valuable contributions from all the guests.
The first presentation, “Educational and Training Proposals for the Future Citizens of the World,” was given by Giorgio Gasperoni, the president of UPF-San Marino. The lecture advocated character education to teach children and youths to become mature and responsible. It was a clear and detailed presentation about the principles of goodness, ethics and morals, the value of responsibility and service to others. Mr. Gasperoni included quotes from famous national and international figures of the religious, educational, journalistic and political worlds.
The second presentation, “Promotion, Support and Protection of the Family as the Founding Cell of Society,” was given by Elisabetta Nistri Calì, the president of WFWP-Italy. Starting with the 16th article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and citing former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon, religious leaders and experts, Ms. Nistri underlined the necessity of government support for the family.
She captured the attention of the audience when she stated that the entire universe is based on the duality of masculine and feminine. She explained about the origin of love; the four realms of heart; how to educate the family about filial piety, respect, purity, fidelity, compassion, and living for the sake of others. Ending with a quote from UPF founder Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon—“a successful marriage is always a trinity: husband, wife and God”—she emphasized that parents can become models of healthy leadership.
The third presentation, “Good Governance and Social Cohesion,” was given by Giuseppe Calì, the regional president for southern Europe of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU), another affiliated organization. Mr. Calì spoke about economic, political and social development and the necessity of relating to the creation through the law of love, respecting nature, distributing resources properly, and research and development working together for healthy and cohesive societies.
The response from the highly qualified members of the audience was amazing, with very intense discussions. The seminar was inspiring not only for the guests but also for the UPF staff.