Religious Leaders From Around the World Take Peace Pledge in Italy

ASSISI, Italy, July 9, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Leaders of the world's major religious traditions gathered in Assisi last week, the home of St. Francis, to pray, celebrate, meditate and pledge to work together on the principle that loving-kindness and compassion can overcome discord and lead to human unity and peace. As part of the Peace Pledge Project, they will share this peace pledge with world leaders, the United Nations, religious leaders, parliamentarians and billions of other people, and invited them to join the movement for loving-kindness, compassion, forgiveness and reconciliation.

The 12th Kenting Tai Situpa emphasised that "Loving-Kindness and Compassion is the base of everything, our very existence." 

Bhai Sahib Mohinder Singh Ahluwalia said, "First and foremost those who want peace must themselves be at peace. Peace within and amongst religions, is a pillar of world peace."

Swami Chidanand Saraswati commented, "We can either be at peace or be in pieces. The choice is now."

Before coming to Assisi, the peace pilgrims flew to Kangerlussuaq, Greenland, and to the Greenland Ice Sheet to witness the enormity of the tragedy of its melting.

Inuit Elder Angaangaq Angarkkorsuaq said, "It is the human heart which needs to melt. This is a priority if we are to stop the melting of our mother ice."

From Greenland, the leaders travelled to Assisi and gathered for three days of intense dialogue and prayer, including a blessing for the forthcoming "Charter for Forgiveness and Reconciliation." They were joined by many other faith leaders, scientists, and activists who had come in from around the world including India, United Kingdom, Serbia, Kenya and the United States of America amongst others.

Water from Gangotri, the glacial source of the Ganges River in the Indian Himalayas, and from Greenland, the only major landmass never to have witnessed war, was ceremonially mixed together into a heart-shaped vessel, representing the sacred heart of humanity.

Faith leaders turned emotional as the water was poured to the sound of prayers from the Muslim, Hindu, Christian, Jewish, Sikh, Buddhist and Indigenous traditions in the Portiuncula within the Basilica of Saint Mary of the Angels, Assisi.

The following day, the leaders carried the sacred water into the Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi, where St. Francis' physical form lays in rest.

A global peace prayer was held, in which internationally renowned faith leaders said prayers and pledges for peace, with followers connecting from around the world via social media.

Bishop Ruben Tierrablanca welcomed this inter-faith community and expressed the importance of learning from the love that St. Francis lived.

"It is no longer enough to simply pray for peace," the leaders agreed. "Like St. Francis, we must also serve and actively work for peace."

The Peace Pledge Pilgrimage Project is an inter-faith initiative led by former Director of the International Monetary Fund and former Vice Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Johannes Witteveen, along with over a hundred spiritual and religious leaders, representing all major religions, from all over the world. Collectively this group represents tens of millions of devoted individuals.

The project's last pilgrimage was held at the Peace Palace in The Hague where the International Court of Justice and International Criminal Court convenes.

Media Contact: 

Brigitte van Baren
[email protected]
+31 6 22482258

Related Images

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Religious Leaders from around the world take Peace Pledge in Italy
Religious leaders, led by Bishop Ruben Tierrablanca, Jonathan Granoff, Brigitte Van Baren, HH The 12th Kenting Tai Situpa, Bhai Sahib Mohinder Singh Ahluwalia and Swami Chidanand Saraswati in the courtyard outside of the Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi, Italy.

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Religious Leaders outside of the Portiuncula within the Basilica of Saint Mary of the Angels, holding the water contained in the heart shaped vessel.
From left: Jonathan Granoff, Mohanji, A.K. Merchant, Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati, Rabbi Awraham Soetendorp, Audrey E. Kitagawa, Bhai Sahib Mohinder Singh Ahluwalia, [holding heart-shaped vessel together with], HH The 12th Kenting Tia Situpa, Pir Shabda Khan, Swami Chidanand Saraswati, Ezekiel Ole Katato, Syed Salman Chishty, Bishop Ruben Tierrablanca, Angaangaq Angarkkorsuaq, Johannes Witteveen.

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Peace pledge project initiators witness tragedy of melting Greenland Ice Sheet.
Intuit Elder Angaangaq Angarkkorsuaq (centre) singing in the ancient Greenland tradition, next to Pir Shabda Khan (far left), Brigitte Brigitte van Baren (left), HH The 12th Kenting Tia Situpa (right) and Jonathan Granoff (far right), at the Greenland Ice Sheet near Kangerlussuaq.

SOURCE Peace Pledge Project