Ceremony marks lighting of World Peace Globe

NEW YORK (UMNS) - A smaller version of a World Peace Globe to be installed in Manger Square in Bethlehem was unveiled during a Dec. 7 ceremony at the Church Center for the United Nations.

Sponsored by the United Methodist Office for the United Nations and the Office of the Coordinator of Bethlehem 2000, a project promoting both millennial celebrations and economic development in Bethlehem, the event was marked by calls for peace around the world.

Levi Bautista, a United Methodist Board of Church and Society executive, called the globe-lighting ceremony "an exercise in remembrance and anticipation" - remembrance of Jesus Christ, who was born in Bethlehem, and his teachings and anticipation of "a just, compassionate and durable peace."

Created of Plexiglas by Rebecca Nova of Wilmington, N.C., the 16-inch globe is lighted from inside.  Countries at peace are brightly lit; countries at war are dark, and countries with internal conflicts blink. A four-foot globe will be installed in the World Peace Center now under construction in Bethlehem.

The peace longed for by the religious community is more than just a matter of treaties.  "We understand that peace is not simply a political persuasion, peace is a moral imperative," said the Rev. Thom White Wolf Fassett, Church and Society's chief executive in Washington.

He added that Bethlehem 2000 is a way of expressing "this overwhelming possibility of peace."

Bethlehem 2000 is an initiative of the United Nations, nongovernmental organizations and other groups to support the Bethlehem 2000 Project of the Palestinian Authority.  The project's main objectives - as a way of establishing a lasting peace -- are to encourage millions of tourists and pilgrims to visit Bethlehem and celebrate with the Palestinian people; to promote Bethlehem's rich past and future promise; to revive the Palestinian tourist industry and to enhance economic development of the Bethlehem region and Palestinian territory.  Events are scheduled from December 1999 through Easter 2001.

The Rev. Anthony Frontiero, attaché of the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations, hailed the project as a "noble initiative" and reminded the gathering that while peace is God-given, men and women must prepare the way for the gift to be received.

"Peace is only possible where there is a will to reconciliation," he declared. "Letting old words of hatred and violence bleed again and again and again is to deny peace a chance."

The Rev. Joan Brown Campbell, chief executive of the National Council of Churches, echoed the call for reconciliation.  "We work for justice in the sure knowledge that in that struggle lies the only way to peace," she said.

"We have before us a vision of hope, radical change and transformation to a new life," she said.  On the edge of the new millennium, "never before, I think, have we been so well placed to accept such a difficult challenge," she said.

As the leader of an organization representing millions of Christians, Campbell pointed out that the "communities of witnesses" in Bethlehem and the Middle East are even more important than the holy places.  She hopes the 2000 celebration "will be an occasion for renewal" for those people.

H.E. Ibra Deguene Ka, chairman of the U.N. Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People and the ambassador of Senegal, told the gathering "the international community has demonstrated its commitment to this project."

The peace globe, he said, "serves as an inspiration to all of us who believe in Bethlehem as a messenger of peace."

The Rev. Hamilton Fuller, coordinator of Bethlehem 2000 participation for the Anglican Communion, added that the World Peace Globe provides an opportunity to celebrate the call from God "that we are to be at peace, that we are to choose peace."

The globe lit Dec. 7 at the Church Center for the United Nations will remain in the Tillman Chapel there for the next 18 months.  Fuller said there is the possibility of mass production if groups or individuals are interested in placing them in office buildings, museums, universities and homes. More information is available at the Web site:www.peace2k.org.