Dear brothers and sisters of the URI family:
With joy in our hearts and gratitude in our souls, we share with you that on the morning of Tuesday, June 30th, and inspired by the words of Mahatma Gandhi: "There is no way to peace, peace is the way," we performed the International Videoconference: "Religions and Peace, Dialogue as a Path", to celebrate the 15th anniversary of our beloved institution: the United Religions Initiative (URI).
Venezuela hosted the United States, Mexico, Argentina, and Chile. Our Alma Mater "Central University" offered this window into the region and the world, where representatives of five Cooperation Circles from URI Latin America and The Caribbean and with different spiritual traditions (Catholic, Jewish, Anglican, Evangelist, Sufi, Sik, Buddhist, Indigenous Cosmovision, Brahma Kumaris, and Baha'I Faith) exposed the particular views of their creeds around the theme of Peace. They showed from their life experiences that dialogue and cooperation are possible ways for coexistence of different religions and cultures of the world. It is the work of URI.
After the speeches, there was a space for questions from both students that were at the Central University part of the Comunitarian Service Project (Children in a World of Peace), as well as those from the Michael Ham College who joined us from Buenos Aires. We gave certificates of recognition to speakers and other participants and shared a small snack.
We invite you to visit our networks, where we will be telling the details of this window we opened today to show the work of URI. I believe that in the middle of so much hostility and violence in our contemporary world´s scenario, we need to preserve the psycho-emotional health of humans and to nourish and strengthen our hopes on this path. We have to report that peace between religions is possible. It is not a utopia; it is now a reality. We just have to amplify it.
Fraternal hug,
Dra. Enoé Texier, Coordinadora Regional de la Iniciativa para las Religiones Unidas, (URI) América Latina & El Caribe
See more 15th anniversary celebrations from the URI community.
The following are pictures from Maria Eugenia Crespo de Mafia, URI Director of Cooperation Circle Support, that were taken at the Michael Ham College in Buenos Aires where people from Argentina´s Cooperation Circles joined to participate in our videoconference. There are also pictures we took at the host location, Central University of Venezuela.
