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D. Clarke: Address to World Summit 2020
Written by Hon. David Clarke, Parliamentarian (2003-2019), Australia
Monday, February 3, 2020
Address to World Summit 2020, Seoul, Korea, February 3-8, 2020
It is a great honor and joy to be here with you in the beautiful city of Seoul, Korea, for the World Summit 2020, organized by the Universal Peace Federation.
Over 4,000 people are here to participate in the conference plenaries and deliberations, bringing perspectives on peace from all over the world. Many more will help to celebrate the centenary of UPF co-founder, Rev. Sun Myung Moon, and a global family festival.
These distinguished participants come from over 170 countries. They represent:
- all major faith traditions;
- a great array of ethnic backgrounds;
- a great array of cultural backgrounds; and
- different professions, business, academia, the media, the sciences, and a great number of parliaments worldwide.
Indeed, those attending this World Summit 2020 represent a great microcosm of mankind.
And what is it that the Universal Peace Federation promotes?
It promotes:
- peace between nations;
- peace between religions; and
- peace between peoples of diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds.
And it promotes the foundational anchor of civilization—the family, the traditional family, which is under attack and persecution from humanism, secularism and atheism.
This is what Rev. Sun Myung Moon was inspired to do those many decades ago when he co-founded the UPF and its predecessor organizations.
And why is the UPF successful when other organizations have failed?
- Because it gains its inspiration from God.
- Because it gives exaltation and glory to Almighty God, the God who always was and always will be.
- And, because it works to create “One Family Under God.”
The worldwide mission of the UPF and its wider network is a marvelous work and a wonder. It is an unstoppable phenomenon. It is a never-ending story of a never-ending story.
It has many facets and programs, and a boundless energy which pushes it forward.
It works with world leaders for peace and harmony—with presidents and prime ministers, religious leaders and dozens and dozens of national parliaments.
And there are many notable examples of this.
- For instance, it worked with Mikhail Gorbachev, president of the former Soviet Union, to encourage a peaceful dismantling of communism.
- It worked closely with Lech Walesa, the founder of Solidarity and the first president of a post-communist and democratic Poland, who ignited that spark which set off a chain reaction, bringing the demise of communism in Eastern Europe.
- The UPF has also worked with presidents of the United States, such as George Bush, Sr. and Gerald Ford; British prime ministers, such as Edward Heath and Margaret Thatcher; and Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid.
And it should be remembered that all these presidents and prime ministers have addressed conferences of the wider UPF movement.
And only last year, Dr. Thomas Walsh, chairman of the UPF, met privately with His Holiness Pope Francis in pursuit of interfaith harmony.
Let there be no doubt that through its worldwide, energizing efforts, the UPF is achieving concrete results in peace and understanding. It is doing so
- through its thousands of Ambassadors for Peace;
- through its volunteers and their community projects throughout the developing nations;
- through its collaboration with cultural outreach programs, such as the world-famous Little Angels Children’s Folk Ballet of Korea.
And the list goes on:
- its programs for the prevention of HIV/AIDS and drug abuse,
- and then there are its many programs to uplift the family and family life.
Can there be any doubt that the UPF is building through word and deeds “One Family Under God”?
And at this time we celebrate the birth, 100 years ago, of the man who conceived and led for so long this pioneering outreach: the Rev. Sun Myung Moon.
We remember his leadership in warning of communism and his constructive efforts to combat it. We remember his work in building “One Family Under God.”
And today his legacy continues under his beloved wife, Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon.
Dear friends, good times lie ahead. That day is coming, that day is getting closer, that day will soon be here when we will indeed see “One Family Under God.”
Thank you very much.
To go to the World Summit 2020 Schedule page, click here.