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World Interfaith Harmony Week Observed in Fiji
Written by Santosh Neupane, chair, FFWPU-Fiji
Suva, Fiji—UPF-Fiji joined with affiliated organizations to celebrate World Interfaith Harmony Week.
Distinguished participants included Hon. Anote Tong, the former president of the Republic of Kiribati; Hon. Otinielu Tausi, the speaker of Tuvalu’s Parliament; Hon. Iliesa Delana, the Fijian assistant minister for youth and sports; members of parliament from Fiji, religious leaders and civil society leaders, as well as UPF Ambassadors for Peace, and leaders of UPFand affiliated organizations.
The opening prayer was a regular practice of praying all together in the participants’ own faith, followed by the opening remarks by UPF-Fiji President Ratu Filimoni Ralogivau.
There were three speakers representing three different faiths. Hon. Netani Rika, a member of the Fijian Parliament, who is also a respected Christian religious leader, spoke on the role of Christianity in interfaith dialogue and harmony. He said he was amazed to witness the interfaith program initiated by UPF founder Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon, and he highly praised the works of UPF in this field.
The speaker from the Islamic faith, Mr. Mohammed Ali Maqbool, a retired school principal, explained the significant points of the Islamic teaching and the importance of interfaith harmony from the perspective of Islam.
A similar presentation was made by Mr. Pawan Bagpaye, representing Hinduism.
Hon. Anote Tong gave a brief testimony about his first meeting with Rev. Moon in the Marshall Islands and his reflection on being one of the recipients of the first Sunhak Peace Prize. He testified to Rev. and Mrs. Moon’s initiatives on peace through different works, in particular interfaith efforts.
Mr. Mohammed Ali Maqbool, the vice president of UPF-Fiji, was the coordinator of the program. Mr. Santosh Neupane, the chair of the Fiji chapter of Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU), gave a brief presentation on the five UPF Peace Principles as well as the history and activities of UPF International and UPF-Fiji in the past years.
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