SECRETARY-GENERAL SAYS BASIC AFFINITY AMONG PEOPLES SHOULD PREVAIL OVER FORCES 'THAT WOULD TEAR US APART FOR NARROW GAINS'
Press Release
SG/SM/6700/Rev.1*
SECRETARY-GENERAL SAYS BASIC AFFINITY AMONG PEOPLES SHOULD PREVAIL OVER FORCES 'THAT WOULD TEAR US APART FOR NARROW GAINS'
19980916 Addressing Interfaith Celebration of Commitment to UN Work, Kofi Annan Notes General Assembly Resolutions Could Be Seen as 'a Form of Prayer'Following are the remarks of Secretary-General Kofi Annan at the second annual Interfaith Celebration of Commitment to the Work of the United Nations, at St. Bartholomew's Church in New York this morning:
It gives me great pleasure to join you all in this beautiful sanctuary. This service is one of the newest traditions on the United Nations calendar, but already it has made an impact as a moving expression of solidarity and goodwill among peoples of different faiths and traditions. We see again the power of prayer.
The clergyman and humanitarian Thomas Merton wrote that "Prayer is not so much an expression of something we do, it is much deeper than that. Prayer is not just a part of our life, it is not just something that happens five or six times a day. Prayer is an expression of who we are; our very being expresses itself with prayer."
So who are we today, as we join in prayer at the beginning of another session of the General Assembly?
We are a wonderfully diverse international community of States, civil society groups and individuals living in an era of dramatic change and troubling paradox.
We are trying to coax the best out of globalization while protecting against its fallout.
We are coping with new threats even as the perennial scourges of war, hunger and intolerance continue to destroy lives and inhibit development.
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* Revised to include last paragraph on page 2, as delivered.
- 2 - Press Release SG/SM/6700/Rev.1 16 Septemer 1998
We are commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights while acknowledging that for far too many people, its tenets have yet to be brought to life or given real meaning.
These and other challenges give prayer a rightful place in the work of the United Nations. For prayer is compassion and concern; it is thanksgiving and atonement; it is yearning and relief. Silent or vocal, public or private, prayer gives voice. One could even say that the resolutions adopted by the General Assembly -- in which the Assembly reaffirms universal ideals, welcomes progress or proposes remedies for injustice -- are a form of prayer.
I pray that the basic affinity among the peoples represented here today will prevail over the forces that would tear us apart for narrow gains. So let us again, as we do each autumn, come together in common cause at the United Nations. "We the peoples" want results.
And finally, it is my hope that with the leadership of those here today, we can plan a gathering of world religious leaders in the year 2000, to deepen and strengthen our spiritual commitment to peace and justice.
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