Peace Pole dedication at the Peace Palace, Hague, Netherlands
September 11, 2013
The Peace Palace located in The Hague, Netherlands houses the International Court of Justice and the Permanent Court of Arbitration. The Carnegie Foundation who still owns and manages the building and premises organized various events to celebrate the one hundred years anniversary of this grand institution.
On September 11th, Director of the Carnegie Foundation and Father Sjaak de Boer of the Roman Catholic Church of the Savior collaborated in organizing an Inter-religious Symposium at the Peace Palace in honor of the centennial. The Symposium carried the theme Reconciliation: A step toward sustainable peace and featured guest speakers from the 5 faith traditions of Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Jewish and Islam.
Mrs. Masami Saionji, Chairperson of the World Peace Prayer Society flew in from Japan to attend the Inter-religious Symposium and to dedicate a Peace Pole in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Peace Palace.
After an inspiring morning program of interfaith dialogue and presentations, everyone was invited to walk outside to the Carnegie Plaza in front of the Peace Palace to dedicate a Peace Pole in commemoration of the 100th anniversary. WPPS designed a specially crafted six sided stone Peace Pole for this occasion inscribed with the peace message translated in 12 languages. After a moving speech, Mrs Saionji along with Father de Boer and Mr. van Hoogstraten, Director of the Carnegie Foundation, unveiled the Peace Pole. A desktop Peace Pole was presented to each of the representatives of the faith traditions and to Director van Hoogstraten.
Great excitement was felt by everyone in attendance as we prepared for a World Peace Flag Ceremony representing the flags of the member states of the United Nations. Mrs Saionji held the flag of Japan as she was surrounded by flags of the world held by the participants who gathered around the Peace Pole. The names of the countries and regions of the world were read and repeated by everyone with great enthusiasm as we traveled around the world sending peace to every nation.
The Ceremony came to a close with everyone pointing their flags toward the Peace Pole in a grand finale calling out in English and Dutch our universal peace message, May Peace Prevail On Earth.
