FOLLOW US
A. Bellow: Address to World Summit 2022, Session VIII
Written by Rev. Dr. Adetola Bellow, world president of Churches of Celestial Christianity, Togo
Saturday, February 12, 2022
Address to World Summit
February 11-13, 2022
Hallelujah! It is an honor for me to be invited to this World Summit 2022, which addresses the theme of reconciliation and peace on the Korean Peninsula.
I am Dr. Adetola Bellow—reverend, prophet, pastor, spiritual leader and world president of the Churches of Celestial Christianity Transnational.
I am also the president of the Confederation of African Revealed Churches in Togo and founder of the NGO Aide et Vie Celeste (AVICE AFRICA- EUROPE), and OBA Group and Companies.
I would like first to express my thanks to the founder of UPF and host of this Summit, Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, for bringing us together in this forum.
She is and remains the Mother of Peace, for she has been tirelessly committed throughout her life to the cause of peace in her native Korea and around the world.
Allow me to also thank the co-chairs, His Excellency Samdech Hun Sen, prime minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia, and His Excellency Ban Ki-moon, former secretary-general of the United Nations, for their leadership in facilitating this forum.
The importance of peacebuilding cannot be stressed enough, especially in a time of tense international relations and threats on a variety of fronts—including the COVID-19 pandemic, conflicts between nations, political crises, climate change, poverty, family breakdown, and so on.
Why is peace on the Korean Peninsula so important?
The situation in the Korean Peninsula is so complicated in view of the geopolitical competition between the superpowers, which has been going on since the Cold War era until now.
This is because the leaders of the two poles have believed that only military means can bring lasting peace.
However, in order to achieve this end, there are many other means of pursuing peace which must necessarily involve civil society, the commercial sector, humanitarian aid, interreligious dialogue, cultural exchanges, tourism, etc.
Therefore, we must work to establish trust, mutual respect, reconciliation and cooperation.
I can quote you situations that I myself have experienced.
At one point in the sub-region, when the Christian churches were so divided, when the state got involved, I participated in many forums to try to bring peace to these communities, because this divides families and brings instability to the people.
It was necessary to have a great regrouping of the African churches, and this allowed the Togolese Association for the Defense of Religious Freedom to be set up. After that, it spread to the sub-region.
So if we succeed now, it will give great hope that peace can be established on a global scale.
The strategies we put in place to create such a breakthrough for peace on the Korean Peninsula will set the precedent for other nations to follow.
It is for all these reasons that we call on the governments of North and South Korea to strongly create an atmosphere more conducive to interaction between the two sides.
Once again, I would like to thank UPF for this Summit and for the opportunity to share these few words.
Thank you.
To go to the World Summit 2022 Schedule page, click here.