76 ADDRESS - LETTERS FROM CLERGY Wherever one might turn his eyes will see destruction, fires, human casualties and will hear weeping and laments. Maybe it sounds illogical, but we, the Patriarchate of Alexandria, for 2000 years now, coexist in harmony, in friendship, with love, with all the people of Egypt that are Muslims. We never had any problem. See every morning when the sun rises, it doesn’t differentiate where it will send it’s rays, either to the Christians, the Muslims, the Hindus or the Buddhists because we all live under the big sky, the love of <strong>God</strong>! If we put aside our personal interests, I’m sure that some day we will all be happy. We will shake hands in reconciliation. I believe and hope and pray that this day will come where the peoples of the world will meet at one point, will shake hands, will lament for the blood that was shed and they will reconcile for ever in their life. From the land of Egypt, which is ‘Theovadistos’ (walked by <strong>God</strong>) exactly because Our Lord Jesus Christ walked on it, we are to send today to the ends of the world a brave message of love and peace: as we gathered today in the Church under the same dome and we didn’t differentiate Christians from non-Christians or of other religions. From today we will announce to the whole world that men can live in reconciliation as long as they learn to love first their <strong>God</strong>, whoever He is, whatever His Name is, and then I’m certain that love for their fellowman will spring also. Pass on to the leaders of your Churches, to the leaders of your religions, to your people, to your communities, to your towns, to your villages, to your cities, to your countries our greetings and our blessings, our love. That we pray, a few Greeks, a few Christians, whatever the number, we pray for peace, for the whole world so that next year that I hope to have you close by, the smiles be wide! To reveal the message that there is no more war, no men are killed, there isn’t anymore unjustly brotherly bloodshed on earth! His Lordship Theofylaktos, Bishop of Babylon
VASSULA RECEIVES THE PEACE GOLD AWARD Atisha Dipankar & Visuddhananda Peace Award on February 23 rd 2003 in Bangladesh