| Annual
Interfaith Service Held in New York City |
On September 13, 2001, the Annual
Interfaith Service of Commitment to the Work of the
United Nations was again held at St. Bartholomew's Church
in New York City to mark the opening of the 56th Session
of the UN General Assembly. A large number of religious
leaders gathered to offer prayers for the United Nations
marched in procession through the church where they
were welcomed by the Very Reverend James Parks Morton,
President of the Interfaith Center of New York, which
organized the service. Representatives of Christianity,
Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Shintoism, Jainism, Sikhism,
Taoism, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, and Native Indigenous
Religions, assembled at the podium to recite blessings
from their various traditions. Reverend T. K. Nakagaki
of the Japanese Buddhist Church of New York (Jodo Shinshu)
participated in the Buddhist prayers, and Reverend Masato
Deguchi of the Oomoto Foundation offered prayers on
behalf of Shintoism. Later in the service H.E. Kofi
Annan, Secretary-General of the United Nations, offered
his remarks on the current disaster in New York City
and Washington, DC caused by terrorist attacks and the
role of both the United Nations and religion in addressing
these issues. The International Shinto Foundation, which
was  one
of many organizations co-sponsoring the service, was
represented by ISF Director-General Yoshimi Umeda, Ms.
Hiroko Sugimoto, and Paul H. Sherbow from the ISF New
York Center.
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