HARARE - The World Alliance of Religions for Peace (WARP) summit that was held in Seoul, South Korea last week was a runaway success which saw hundreds of thousands of people participating in the global event.
Among the influential international players who graced the auspicious gathering were more than 50 political leaders, including former and current heads of states from 30 countries, as well as about 700 religious leaders from 120 countries and over 600 members of the International Peace Youth Group (IPYG) representing 150 countries.
The summit's colourful opening ceremony was held at the iconic Seoul Olympic Stadium, while the signing ceremony of the solemn and highly significant Unity of Religion Agreement was held at the Seoul Convention Center the next day.
More than 2 000 prominent people from around the world -- transcending nationality, race and religion -- signed the peace agreement that exhorted global religions to unite and also called for an international law for the cessation of all wars.
It also called on all the signatories to the agreement to become global peace advocates who should endeavour to deliver on this mandate to all people around the world and encourage humanity to co-operate in the work of achieving international peace.
As the agreement was read aloud, it was emphasised that peace could not be achieved by one individual but could be realised through the unity of all people working together as one.
Man Hee Lee, the chairman of the Heavenly Culture World Peace Restoration of Light (HWPL), expressed deep regret over the current unsatisfactory state of religion generally around the world.
“Religious leaders can teach religion properly only if they know about it themselves. Church is not a place where worldly things are taught, but it is for teaching things of heaven and God.
“Before saying which religion is good and which religion is bad, we must first see whether our own religion is corrupt. Theology is not the teachings of man,” he said to enthusiastic applause.
Nam Hee Kim, the International Women’s Peace Group chairperson, told the global meeting that while the agreement was only the beginning, it had the power to unite all people and to turn the whole world into one of peace.
“This one piece of paper connects one country with another and unites different classes and different religions as one. This generation is in need of change that is close to reformation. In creating a peaceful world and leaving it as an eternal legacy to future generations, today’s signing ceremony is very significant," she said.
On the third day, the Walk for World Peace was held at the World Peace Gate of Seoul’s Olympic Park, with a huge crowd estimated at a staggering 200 000 people from both the host nation and abroad taking part in it.
The summit, the first-ever such gathering, was hosted by the HWPL, a non-profit, non-governmental international organisation registered under the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
It was also the largest ever such event where politicians, religious people and representatives of various interested organisations from around the world congregated in one place to strategise and pray about world peace.
Lee, a Korean war veteran and renowned peace advocate, founded HWPL after his extensive involvements with numerous volunteer associations, having seen the need for a foundation whose central focus is to unite the people of the world behind the goal of peace irrespective of any apparent differences between them.
He has completed 13 world tours, encompassing more than 60 different countries spanning all continents, to speak with opinion leaders about peace. These leaders around the world have signed their names under the Declaration of Peace, showing their support for the movement.
In the Philippines, for example, there was conflict between Catholic and Islamic groups for 40 years, which saw 100 000 people dying due to this conflict. On January 24, 2014, Lee went to Mindanao and helped to solve the conflict, with the Catholic and Islamic leaders signing a peace agreement and agreeing to unite and put an end to their rivalry.
In a recent letter ahead of the summit, Lee implored "all family members of the global village" to work for the achievement of world peace in our generation.
Hilda Mari van Niekerk, the South African-based regional spokesperson of the Seoul summit, outlined some of the goals of HWPL and WARP as:
* To begin the process of establishing a universally applicable system of values focussing on aspects of morality and experience of life that bind us together as a global family;
* Establish a basic ideological foundation upon which a World Alliance of Religions can be built in order to bring conflicts founded on differing religious ideologies to an end; and
* To define the roles of cultural leaders, both secular and religious, in the creation and implementation of a new, heavenly culture.