Sri Chinmoy:
The Peace Meditation at the United Nations

The 80th birthday of Pope Paul VI was marked by a ceremony of the United Nations Community on 23 September. Sponsored by the Meditation Group at the UN, the ceremony included remarks by:

• Msgr. Giovanni Cheli, Permanent Observer for the Holy See at the U.N. ,
• Father John Donohue of the Holy Family Church, and
• Dr. Robert Muller, Deputy Under-Secretary-General for Int er-Agency Affairs and Coordination ;
•  and meditation with Sri Chinmoy, who has met Pope Paul on several occasions.

Monsignor Giovanni Cheli, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations:

Thank you very much for inviting me to participate in this celebration. I am confident that I speak in the name of the staff of our mission when I tell you how happy we are that you have decided to acknowledge the 80th birthday of our Holy Father in this way. We know very well of his great interest and his warm feeling for the United Nations, for the goals of the Charter, and for the people who dedicate their lives to work for peace.

Your intentions and your work in this beautiful Meditation Group under the leadership of this highly respected master of spirituality, Sri Chinmoy, are in harmony with those of the Pope.

He will be, therefore, especially happy to receive your greetings on this occasion because he will appreciate the spiritual unity that you share. May I conclude with the Pope’s final words to the Secretary-General which, I think, he would want me to say to you on his behalf : “We wish thus to reiterate to you our esteem and our encouragement, our desires and our hopes. And we pray that God may bless you and those who work with you.”

 

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Father John Donohue, Holy Family Church:

The great world-religions . . . teach the truth of the brotherhood of all human beings under the Fatherhood of a loving and caring God. Pope Pa ul gave voice to this fundamental tenet held by all religious faiths when he said, in the same address, “Men are brothers, God is their Father, and their Father wills that they live in peace with one another as brothers should. ”  May this truth soon be recognized and accepted by all who bear the responsibility of maintaining peace among the nations.

 

Dr. Robert Muller, Deputy Under-SecretaryGeneral:

During my many years with the United Nations, I had occasion to observe the important
role of Pope Paul in world affairs and matters of peace. As you know, he was a dear friend of former Secretary-General U Thant, whom I often heard speak of him with great fondness and admiration. Pope Paul was one of the few people, a group of very special persons , with whom U Thant was in constant spiritual and humanistic communion.

 

Later, I had the privilege of accompanying Secretary-General Waldheim to Rome when he visited His Holiness for the first time. I can remember vividly how much the issue
of peace loomed large in the spirit and heart of His Holiness.

 

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Gallery:

Gallery Report in “Meditation at UN” periodic Bulletin Sep 1977