FOLLOW US
International Day of Peace Celebrated in the Peruvian Congress
Written by Trevor Jones, UPF-Peru
Friday, September 21, 2007
UPF Peru has celebrated the International Day of Peace every year since 2005. On September 21, 2007, once again we held an event in the Congress (Parliament) of Peru. In a cooperative meeting arranged with Congresswoman Sra. Margarita Sucari of Puno an interfaith and inter-party meeting was opened at 11.00 am by the Senior Vice President of Congress, Sr. Aldo Estrada.
Beneath the grey skies of Lima guests gathered in a marquee in the patio of the Congress that was adorned with the colors of the national flag to offer prayers for peace and receive messages of peace from various dignitaries and light prayer candles.
In spite of the inclement weather, the ceremony was held out of doors as, following the recent earthquake in Peru, large meetings inside the Congress Building have been banned due to some weakening of the structure by the 7.6 Richter scale quake.
During the ceremony, Trevor Jones, Executive Director of UPF-Peru, spoke about the significance of this day and also mentioned the work of the founder of UPF, Dr. Sun Myung Moon, including his efforts to bring peace in Asia (between North and South Korea) and the Middle East. Mr. Jones appointed six new Ambassadors for Peace, including four members of Congress, a famous writer who was named "Woman of the Year" by Peruvian President Alan Garcia in 2007, and a university director.
A Catholic priest and an Evangelical minister offered prayers during the two-hour ceremony, and the President of the Islamic Association of Peru also spoke on behalf of the Muslim community. The President of UPF-Peru, Pastor Orestes Sanchez, talked in his closing speech about the need for continuous cooperation of all concerned to bring about peace and also to continue support the current work in Peru to help the thousands of people who have been affected by the recent earthquake. Mrs. Rose Castillo, UPF-Peru Vice President, was visiting the disaster area that weekend taking with her truck loads of donated clothes and materials collected by her staff in the Mothers' Clubs for which she is national coordinator.
Immediately after this meeting, Mr. Jones and other Ambassadors for Peace attended another Day of Peace event organized by the Ministry for Women. Here again he spoke to a capacity audience of 1,000 people about UPF and the work of Rev. Dr. Moon. The current Minister for Women, her Vice-Minister, and Deputy were all appointed Ambassadors for Peace, receiving their certificates earlier that morning from Mrs. Faith Jones, former WFWP-Peru President, acting on behalf of Mr. Jones while he was speaking in the Congress.
On the same day the Peruvian Congress also approved a motion sending official greetings jointly to the Secretary-General of the UN Ban Ki-moon and to Dr. Sun Myung Moon in recognition of their work for peace.
For more information about UPF's celebrations of the UN International Day of Peace, click here.
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