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Nicolas: Address to World Summit 2020
Written by Mgr. Nicolas, Patriarch, Orthodox Patriarchate of Nations, France
Wednesday, February 5, 2020
Address to World Summit 2020, Seoul, Korea, February 3-8, 2020
Ladies and gentlemen, dear brothers and sisters. It is with profound joy that I am about to speak to you and share a few words. Before addressing the strategy and the action plan that we can put forward, let me lay the necessary foundations for fair and effective action.
- Humility
We must have and develop humility, which is the first condition to avoid thinking that we alone possess the truth and that the other does not. Too many religious figures speak of humility but do not live it. Through the practice of humility, we can avoid arrogance, superiority and contempt. Pride hinders the development of a climate conducive to reaching out to our fellow brothers and sisters.
- Respect
We must have respect for our beliefs but also respect for those of others. There can be no dialogue without respect. Respecting others does not always mean sharing their opinions or their vision of life, but being able to have conversations, and therefore engage in dialogue.
- Personal prayer and inner peace
It seems obvious, but I could see that some religious personalities were more concerned about their positions and leading others in prayer, but were not praying themselves so that God could help them to be better and therefore more efficient, if I may say so.
Brothers and sisters, we must be the light for others in order to dispel the darkness and enable them to find the way to God and peace.
Once these conditions are met, then everything becomes possible and we can be at peace with each other. In order to speak of peace and to share it, we must first of all possess it.
What actions must we take?
During a recent trip I undertook to New York at the end of 2019 to attend the World Conference of religious leaders, I discovered the enthusiasm of our American brothers and sisters and I thought that it would be interesting to organize the same event in every continent and even in each country. This would create an opportunity for us to get to know each other, to learn to work together on certain issues and to exchange in order to grow together and develop effective action strategies.
Once we organize these conferences for religious leaders at the national level, we set up stronger foundations to communicate with our believers and then with the media and with the politicians and all stakeholders of the country to talk about peace.
I wish to conclude by emphasizing that if we want to speak about and establish peace, we ourselves must be altruistic, filled with the love of God. We must prove by our deeds and not just our words that God’s love is within us. In that way, we will be able to transmit peace, multiply it and lead others towards peace.
Let us not be afraid to love. God will help us with the way forward, because where there is love there is no place for evil, hatred and war.
I love you. Thank you for your kind attention.
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