Call for Disarmament in NYC, USA

May 2nd, 2010

Sunday, May 2nd was a day to call for disarmament in New York City, while world leaders gathered at the United Nations for the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference. Events began at 12 noon with AN INTERFAITH CONVOCATION for the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons at the chapel of the Church Center for the United Nations. Dignitaries representing many faith traditions included the Most Rev. Katherine Jefferts Schiori, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church. WPPS UN Representative Deborah Moldow was invited to lead both a hymn and a finale of “Let There Be Peace on Earth and Let It Begin With Me.” A Peace Pole was prominently placed at the altar by organizer Mark Johnson of the Fellowship of Reconciliation. Deborah was later seen leading the congregation in saying “May Peace Prevail on Earth” on PBS television’s “Religion and Ethics Newsweekly.”

Afternoon events featured a rally for disarmament that began at Times Square, with thousands of people from around the world, including 100 survivors of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Participants marched for peace to the International Peace & Music Festival at Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza that welcomed them with music, the tables of many peace organizations, a tent for the Hibakusha and an area of exhibits.

The World Peace Prayer Society had a very successful table, offering peace gifts and information about WPPS’s mission and the International Day of Peace. Many visitors were aware of The Peace Pole Project and provided information about their own Peace Poles in other states and overseas. Everyone who gathered to call for disarmament welcomed the prayer: “May Peace Prevail on Earth!”