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ENLARGE
Sunday's coming Day of Prayer for Peace service in Grass Valley has its roots in the Cold War and the kind of cultural cross-germination that is classic Nevada County.
Pope Paul VI proclaimed Jan. 1 a World Day of Prayer for Peace in 1968, when the United States and then-Soviet Union seemed on the brink of launching their nuclear missiles at each other.
In the early 1980s, Pope John Paul II invited representatives of other faiths to participate in a festival and interfaith prayer service. Attendees included Jewish and Native American leaders and the Dalai Lama.
“It was a big step for John Paul to break the barriers and open dialogue, not only among Christian churches, but among non-Christians,” said the Rev. Sylvester Kwiatkowski, priest of St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Grass Valley.
Then, after the terrorist attacks of September 2001, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops declared a National Day of Prayer for Peace.
So when a parishioner asked Fr. Sylvester to meet with a Buddhist monk about praying for peace together, he quickly agreed.
His conversation on Friday with Geshe Thupten Phelgye led Kwiatkowski to organize a prayer service open to all — including people with no religious connection — for 1 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 1 (see box).
Clergy from other area congregations also are being invited to attend, Kwiatkowski added.
Phelgye has been a frequent visitor to Nevada County's active Buddhist community for several years. His appointment to a professorship at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Wash., as head of the Center for Global Engagement within the Department of Religious Studies, marks a new step in his work to reach out cooperatively to those of other faiths.
“Because of globalization and technology, it's necessary now to come together to accept each and every one and build tolerance of the diversity of the faiths around us,” Phelgye said. “The common goal is peace and happiness for all.”
Grass Valley resident Sonata Nunes, who grew up in heavily Catholic Lithuania, has been friends with Phelgye for about seven years and helped the two men connect. She learns from both traditions, she said.
“The older you get, the more you want to embrace all religions, especially the one you were raised in,” Nunes said.
Kwiatkowski called the meeting, and the service to come out of it, “God's intervention ...”
“This is a very uncertain time of instability for families and economies,” Kwiatkowski added. “We need to pray for political peace and inner peace.”
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To contact Senior Staff Writer Trina Kleist, e-mail tkleist@theunion.com or call (530) 477-4230.
Pope Paul VI proclaimed Jan. 1 a World Day of Prayer for Peace in 1968, when the United States and then-Soviet Union seemed on the brink of launching their nuclear missiles at each other.
In the early 1980s, Pope John Paul II invited representatives of other faiths to participate in a festival and interfaith prayer service. Attendees included Jewish and Native American leaders and the Dalai Lama.
“It was a big step for John Paul to break the barriers and open dialogue, not only among Christian churches, but among non-Christians,” said the Rev. Sylvester Kwiatkowski, priest of St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Grass Valley.
Then, after the terrorist attacks of September 2001, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops declared a National Day of Prayer for Peace.
So when a parishioner asked Fr. Sylvester to meet with a Buddhist monk about praying for peace together, he quickly agreed.
His conversation on Friday with Geshe Thupten Phelgye led Kwiatkowski to organize a prayer service open to all — including people with no religious connection — for 1 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 1 (see box).
Clergy from other area congregations also are being invited to attend, Kwiatkowski added.
Phelgye has been a frequent visitor to Nevada County's active Buddhist community for several years. His appointment to a professorship at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Wash., as head of the Center for Global Engagement within the Department of Religious Studies, marks a new step in his work to reach out cooperatively to those of other faiths.
“Because of globalization and technology, it's necessary now to come together to accept each and every one and build tolerance of the diversity of the faiths around us,” Phelgye said. “The common goal is peace and happiness for all.”
Grass Valley resident Sonata Nunes, who grew up in heavily Catholic Lithuania, has been friends with Phelgye for about seven years and helped the two men connect. She learns from both traditions, she said.
“The older you get, the more you want to embrace all religions, especially the one you were raised in,” Nunes said.
Kwiatkowski called the meeting, and the service to come out of it, “God's intervention ...”
“This is a very uncertain time of instability for families and economies,” Kwiatkowski added. “We need to pray for political peace and inner peace.”
ooo
To contact Senior Staff Writer Trina Kleist, e-mail tkleist@theunion.com or call (530) 477-4230.
