Shincheonji Church of Jesus establishes Interfaith Unity via 'Religious Leaders Peace Centre'
With the threat of war looming over many parts of the world, religious divisions, which are the cause of the majority of conflicts, are being resolved through a platform for interreligious dialogue and cooperation between faith leaders of all the major religions. The creation of a culture of peace based on the spirit of harmony, coexistence, and mutual respect, is achieving concrete results.
The focal point of this culture of peace is the 'Religious Leaders Peace Centre', one of the global cooperative initiatives of Shincheonji Church of Jesus, led by Chairman ManHee Lee. The Peace Centre was inaugurated by the four-day ‘1st Special Lecture on Revelation Open to All Nations’ conference held earlier this year (February 20th to 23rd), where 80 leaders from 10 faiths, including Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, and Confucianism, from 27 countries gathered in South Korea to expand their understanding of the Bible and exchange scriptures through a Bible exchange programme designed to promote interreligious understanding and solidarity.
They shared the view that 'in order to eliminate conflicts between religions and promote mutual cooperation, we need time to read and understand the scriptures of other religions' and leaders had time to attend and discuss a special lecture on the Book of Revelation of the Bible. It was a four-day scripture exchange journey where leaders from various religions gathered to seek the truth and share wisdom.
The religious leaders' Bible exchange programme led to the establishment of a more systematic and developed 'Peace Centre', which serves to help religious leaders understand Christianity through the Bible and to promote inter-religious dialogue and cooperation, all the while respecting the doctrines and worldviews of every religion.
Among the religious leaders who attended the first Peace Centre lesson, there were many who made plans for inter-religious scripture exchanges in their home countries and are putting them into practice.
For example, on June 29th, the '2024 Cambodia Religious Peace Vision Forum' was held at the Chak Angre Krom Pagoda Buddhist temple in Cambodia. 120 monks and 30 Shincheonji Church of Jesus lecturers, evangelists, and followers gathered at the event.
The forum’s organiser, Venerable Sok Bunthoeun, said, “The beliefs of each religion are often considered inviolable, but a closer look at the basic teachings of most religious scriptures shows that they are mainly about revealing the truth and building love, peace, harmony and respect.” He continued, “Therefore, inter-religious dialogue must be based on each religion’s scriptures and must include a process of learning from each other’s scriptures and exploring the truth.”
Prior to that, on May 24th, the Shincheonji Religious Peace Centre was unveiled in Nagpur, India. It was opened by a Buddhist leader who was a first-year student at the Peace Centre, with the hope that religious leaders would be able to exchange scripture at the office. Since then, it has served as a venue for exchanges between regional religious leaders, including events such as 'Interreligious Exchange for Building Peace'.
Regarding the expansion of the Peace Centre centred around religious leaders from each country, a Shincheonji Church of Jesus official said, “Peace is a universal mission that requires cooperation from all believers,” and “By promoting dialogue based on mutual understanding and respect, we will be able to overcome prejudice and cooperate together to achieve lasting peace on Earth.”
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