{"id":5937,"date":"2020-05-13T22:38:00","date_gmt":"2020-05-13T13:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/?p=5937"},"modified":"2024-06-13T23:57:09","modified_gmt":"2024-06-13T14:57:09","slug":"un-chief-appeals-to-common-humanity-across-all-faiths-to-tackle-covid-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/news\/culture-art-religion\/un-chief-appeals-to-common-humanity-across-all-faiths-to-tackle-covid-19\/","title":{"rendered":"UN Chief Appeals to \u2018Common Humanity\u2019 Across All Faiths to Tackle COVID-19"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By UN News<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

NEW YORK (IDN) \u2013 Our shared vulnerability to the coronavirus pandemic reveals \u201cour common humanity\u201d, UN Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres told religious leaders in an online meeting to discuss the role they can play in limiting the damage caused by COVID-19<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking during the meeting on May 12, Guterres said \u201cit lays bare our responsibility to promote solidarity as the foundation of our response \u2013 a solidarity based on the human rights and human dignity of all \u2026 and it highlights the crucial role of religious leaders in your communities and beyond.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joined by leaders from the Jewish, Christian and Muslim faiths, the UN chief cited previous public health crises, including HIV\/AIDS and Ebola, noting how spiritual leadership had been a positive benefit in terms of community values, attitudes and actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd with this influence comes responsibility to work together, putting aside differences, and to translate our common values into action\u201d, he underscored as he highlighted four pivotal ways they can help reverse the pandemic, and aid recovery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, he asked them to \u201cactively challenge inaccurate and harmful messages\u201d along with rejecting xenophobia, racism and \u201call forms of intolerance\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was important to \u201ccategorically condemn\u201d violence against women and girls, which is on the rise, he said, and \u201csupport shared principles of partnership, equality, respect and compassion\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPartnership also means ensuring women\u2019s equal voice and representation in all spheres,\u201d he told the virtual discussion.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He called on leaders to leverage their networks to support governments in promoting public health measures, such as physical distancing and good hygiene and to also practice these during faith-based activities, including worship services and burials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, as the world\u2019s students are out of school, he urged faith leaders to \u201csupport the continuity of education\u201d so that learning never stops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Providing \u2018hope to the hopeless\u2019<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

General Assembly President Tijjani Muhammad-Bande highlighted the unique role of faith, saying that it gives \u201chope to the hopeless\u201d and in times of anxiety, \u201ccan be a significant source of comfort and community resilience.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During this \u201cunprecedented threat\u201d, he said that religious leaders and faith-based organisations have an even greater role to play \u201cin saving lives and mitigating the spread of the disease\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe look up to them to share credible information and stand up against rumours, violence, and the incitement of hate and advocate for the needs of vulnerable populations\u201d, stressed the Assembly President. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using moral authority<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Against the backdrop of rising poverty, heightened suffering for marginalised people, children out of school and fatalities from the coronavirus, Muhammad-Bande flagged that \u201cunfortunately, there is no timeline for the end of this pandemic\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis means that we have a lot of work ahead of us\u201d, he said calling on \u201cfaith-based organisations and religious leaders, equipped with courage and vision\u201d, to use their moral authority to continue advocating for women\u2019s empowerment, access to education and health facilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As COVID-19 related restrictions have closed churches, synagogues and mosques worldwide, he noted that many religious leaders have swiftly adapted by taking worship online. He also lauded their engagement with youth in developing messages on social media, \u201cmaking them effective partners\u201d in raising awareness on preventative measures. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Religious leaders on the frontlines<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

High-Representative for the UN Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC<\/a>) Miguel Moratinos shared the Secretary-General\u2019s call for global solidarity, underscoring the need to consider vulnerable populations and marginalised communities, as well as growing stigma and hate speech. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn life-altering crises when people are desperate and uprooted from their lives, faith has often been their anchor and the place they turn to for consolation and hope\u201d, he maintained, adding that \u201cthis is where the role of religious leaders come into play\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The UNAOC chief elaborated that faith actors are deeply rooted in the communities they serve and are often first responders, saying it \u201cwas heartening to see how many religious leaders and communities of faith swiftly acted and placed themselves in the frontlines providing valuable services to their communities\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also acknowledged governments and health institutions for working closely with religious leaders as millions globally had to celebrate Passover, Easter and Ramadan under lockdown to reduce coronavirus transmission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In closing, Moratinos announced a meeting at the end of May to, among other things, \u201cidentify areas of action and concrete result-oriented initiatives that religious leaders and faith-actors can undertake in response to COVID19.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cardinal Miguel \u00c1ngel Ayuso Guixot of the Catholic Church told the gathering that the pandemic \u201cprovides the impetus for us to build bridges of friendship and fraternity,\u201d adding \u201clet us stay united to face current challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rabbi Arthur Schneier of the Park East Synagogue in New York, and Ambassador to UNAOC, looked beyond the pandemic, reminding all that \u201cevery crisis and conflict comes to an end.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a Holocaust survivor, he recalled that the UN was established 75 years ago as \u201ca classic example\u201d of mankind\u2019s history of destruction, devastation, loss of life, rebuilding, restoration and, as a result of united action, \u201cultimately rebirth\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith faith, prayer and action we can build a brighter future for our children, a world of peace, love and kindness,\u201d he stressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ahmed Abbadi, Secretary General of Morocco\u2019s Rabita Mohammadia of Oul\u00e9mas, spoke on behalf of the Islamic faith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The organiser of the event, Moroccan Ambassador to the UN Omar Hilale, noted that \u201cthe fury with which COVID-19 fell on the world and its planetary consequences, require, more than ever, a unified and responsible message.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cReligious leaders can play a key role in preserving human brotherhood and building more inclusive, cohesive, safer, more resilient and more united societies, especially in troubled times,\u201d he added. [IDN-InDepthNews \u2013 13 May 2020]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photo: Religious leaders in an online meeting. Credit: UN Photo\/Rick Bajornas<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By UN News NEW YORK (IDN) \u2013 Our shared vulnerability to the coronavirus pandemic reveals \u201cour common humanity\u201d, UN Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres told religious leaders in an online meeting to discuss the role they can play in limiting the damage caused by COVID-19. Speaking during the meeting on May 12, Guterres said \u201cit lays bare our responsibility […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5938,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[110,26],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-5937","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-archive","8":"category-culture-art-religion"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5937","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5937"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5937\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5939,"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5937\/revisions\/5939"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5938"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5937"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5937"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5937"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}