At such a time when the world is in despair, and signs of less hope and hurt are evident in most communities due to the devastating ripple effects of Covid-19 pandemic, a ray of light is always experienced when there are unity and peace.

In a show of unity, peace and harmony, five hundred and sixty (560) representatives from 31 religions in 80 countries including Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Sikhism participated in a Virtual Year-End gathering hosted by Heavenly Culture World Peace Restoration of Light (HWPL) on the 14th December.

The prayer meeting aimed to reaffirm the religious leaders’ commitment to reconciliation as well as continued participation in inter-religious dialogues for peace as a means to lasting harmony between the religions.

One of the participants, Rev. Hare Krsna Das, Priest of ISKCON, Rishikesh, India, said: “Today we may be able to solve the problem of COVID-19, but another disease will come. When winter is coming, we cannot stop it, but we can cover ourselves and protect ourselves.

That is what we can do when there is a challenging issue of bad health and adversities coming in life. We should maintain patience and learn the art of tolerance and tolerate the difficulty and suffering that is coming upon us.”

In his video message Moshe Silberhaft, Director of African Jewish Congress in South Africa, sent his goodwill message for health in 2021 and encouraged the commitment towards achieving global peace. “I implore all of you to join the efforts of HWPL, may the year be full of good health, abundant prayer and commitment towards our mission in achieving global peace through the heavenly culture and restore the world with unity, love and light.

In regards to the question of how society can understand why suffering such as COVID-19 occurs, HWPL representative Nathan Howard shared that HWPL has found that all religions were searching for an answer.

He said “We are transcending time difference to pray for the safety of all regardless of their faiths. This is the clear difference from the time before the pandemic when news of conflict was filled with intolerance against groups from different backgrounds”. “In this respect, it has proved the possibility that humanity in a crisis can be united and one in peace beyond religion.”