{"id":131011,"date":"2017-11-08T20:52:18","date_gmt":"2017-11-09T01:52:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.un.org\/pga\/72\/?p=131011"},"modified":"2017-12-12T16:03:55","modified_gmt":"2017-12-12T21:03:55","slug":"annual-orthodox-prayer-service-for-the-un-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/pga\/72\/2017\/11\/08\/annual-orthodox-prayer-service-for-the-un-community\/","title":{"rendered":"Annual Orthodox Prayer Service for the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Community"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[et_pb_section bb_built=&#8221;1&#8243;][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=&#8221;2_3&#8243;][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.87&#8243; background_layout=&#8221;light&#8221; border_style=&#8221;solid&#8221; background_position=&#8221;top_left&#8221; background_repeat=&#8221;repeat&#8221; background_size=&#8221;initial&#8221;]<\/p>\n<h1><strong>Annual Orthodox Prayer Service for the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Community<\/strong><\/h1>\n<div class=\"post-meta vcard\">\n<p style=\"text-align: left\"><span class=\"updated\">8 November 2017<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.87&#8243; background_layout=&#8221;light&#8221; border_style=&#8221;solid&#8221; background_position=&#8221;top_left&#8221; background_repeat=&#8221;repeat&#8221; background_size=&#8221;initial&#8221;]<\/p>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: center\"><em>&#8211; As delivered &#8211;<\/em><\/h4>\n<h2>Statement by H.E. Mr. Miroslav Laj\u010d\u00e1k, President of the 72<sup>nd<\/sup> Session of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ General Assembly, at <strong>Annual Orthodox Prayer Service for the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Community<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>Good evening everyone. I am honoured and humbled to have been asked to address you today. <\/em><\/p>\n<p>I want to thank Archbishop Demetrios, Archbishop Barsamian, and Reverent Vlahos for their roles in this unique service. I want to also welcome the leaders and members of religious and diplomatic communities, who have joined us this evening.<\/p>\n<p>When I look around me, I see a diverse group of people here this evening. It is a bit different to the group I usually address at the United Nations. The reason we are here, however, is <u>not<\/u> that different to the reason we meet at the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ. In many ways, the priorities and work of the faith community converge with those of the United Nations. This is particularly true in respect of refugees and migrants. I want to highlight this convergence in three areas.<\/p>\n<p>Firstly, the religious community has always offered help to those in need. This help has included food, financial support or, importantly, shelter.<\/p>\n<p>Since medieval times, places of worship have provided a safe haven to those fleeing persecution or injustice. Religious communities have also offered shelter and safety to people running from wars or hunger. Recently we have seen faith leaders call for parishes and communities to house refugees. These calls have transcended religion. They have invoked humanity, beyond the bounds of nationality, race, or beliefs.<\/p>\n<p>Similarly, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ workers all over the world are trying to help those in need. Many of them are in refugee or IDP camps, working with people who have been forced to leave their homes. As its name suggests, the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ\u2019s humanitarian support is, indeed, based on humanity. It doesn\u2019t matter where someone has fled from &#8211; or why.<\/p>\n<p>In this way, the work of faith communities and the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ community is interlinked. In fact, on the ground, much of it happens side by side.<\/p>\n<p>Secondly, I want to stress that religious communities do not only act to help people on the move &#8211; they also work to address the root causes of such movement.<\/p>\n<p>Faith groups have played a major role in brokering peace. They have brought conflict parties around the same table. They have helped to negotiate ceasefires and peace deals. They have called for calm in periods of high tensions. They have preached messages of tolerance, and humanity. And they have built bridges between divided communities or societies. In doing so, they have worked for peace \u2013 through peace.<\/p>\n<p>As we know, the United Nations is here for peace. Traditionally, however, it has prioritised military peacekeeping missions. The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ must therefore build its capacity to stop and prevent conflict through peaceful means. And, in doing so, it can learn a lot from the experience of faith communities.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, I want to note that, throughout history, religious groups have called on leaders to put people first. They have argued that no other consideration &#8211; budgets, security, votes &#8211; should come before humanity. In doing so, they have influenced policy-making.<\/p>\n<p>Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ is made up Member States. But, really, it is here for people. That is why its Charter begins with the sentence, \u201c<em>We the peoples of the United Nations<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>This focus on people cannot be lost as we move to adopt two global compacts on refugees and migrants next year. Yes, governments will be the ones tasked to negotiate the agreements. But people will be the ones to gain from them. And people will be the ones to suffer if we fail in our task.<\/p>\n<p>So, I want to thank you all for, again, putting the focus on people. Thank you for sharing some powerful testimonies from people on the ground.<\/p>\n<p>And thank you for reminding us that we are all working towards the same ends:<\/p>\n<p>1\/ to help those most in need<\/p>\n<p>2\/ to bring about peace, and<\/p>\n<p>3\/ to place people at the core of our work.<\/p>\n<p><em>Thank you all again. <\/em><\/p>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=&#8221;1_3&#8243;][et_pb_divider _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.69&#8243; divider_style=&#8221;solid&#8221; divider_position=&#8221;top&#8221; height=&#8221;150&#8243; hide_on_mobile=&#8221;on&#8221; \/][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Statement by H.E. Mr. Miroslav Laj\u010d\u00e1k, President of the 72nd Session of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ General Assembly, at Annual Orthodox Prayer Service for the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Community<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":202,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[69,53],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-131011","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","category-statements","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Annual Orthodox Prayer Service for the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Community - General Assembly of the United Nations<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.un.org\/pga\/72\/2017\/11\/08\/annual-orthodox-prayer-service-for-the-un-community\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Annual Orthodox Prayer Service for the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Community - General Assembly of the United Nations\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Statement by H.E. 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