United Nations |
| Tibet's Dalai Lama was not invited to this bash in case it might offend
Red China, a member of the UN Security Council. Yet, the UN isn't the official
sponsor. How can they have a World Religion without world religious leaders,
hmmmmm? So much for their rhetoric. -Jackie
Peace summit draws top spiritual leaders
The Associated
Press
NEW YORK — More than 1,000 religious leaders meet today at the United Nations for a Millennium World Peace Summit to discuss solutions to conflicts, including some that threaten to divide the meeting. Participants say they hope the summit, which runs through Thursday, will result in resolutions on peace, poverty and the environment, as well as the formation of a permanent council to advise the United Nations. At the Waldorf-Astoria hotel, barefoot monks mingled with white-robed swamis Sunday. Incas in wool tunics and tasseled caps gazed at the processions of veils, caps and turbans. "We'll continue to look for solutions until the peace comes," said Eritrean Bishop Zekarias Yohannes, who plans to meet with Ethiopian leaders. Among the speakers: Cardinal Francis Arinze, president of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue; the Grand Mufti of Bosnia, Mustafa Ceric; Israeli Chief Rabbi Meir Lau; the Rev. Jesse Jackson; evangelist Anne Graham Lotz, the Rev. Billy Graham's daughter; and numerous indigenous leaders. Those who declined include Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, who sent a videotaped message, and Jerusalem Mufti Ikrema Sabri, who has refused to meet with Rabbi Lau. Tibet's Dalai Lama was not invited in order not to offend China, a member of the U.N. Security Council. Protest demonstrations are planned. The United Nations is not an official sponsor of the event, largely being underwritten by Ted Turner's U.N. Foundation. Turner, who once said that Christianity was "for losers," will give the keynote address.
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