Celebrate UN World Interfaith Harmony Week  

On the first day of the United Nations World Interfaith Harmony Week (February 1), the Mayor of Mississauga, Bonnie Crombie, together with Interfaith Concept of Peel jointly held a virtual Interfaith Harmony Week Prayer Breakfast. Over 60 participants participated in the Prayer Breakfast, which included representatives from various faith groups, goodwill and social welfare groups in the Region of Peel. 

The Mayor of Mississauga thanked all participants for supporting the Prayer Breakfast and announced that the goal of the Prayer Breakfast is to open up conversations amongst the various faith leaders and community members. She shared her vision on “Year of Garden-Nurturing Diversity,” encouraging all to share and utilize our land in further supporting the vulnerable groups in our society.  

The Prayer Breakfast invited various faith leaders, including Aboriginal, Bahá'í, Buddhist, Christian, Catholic, Jewish, and Islamic faith. All faith leaders were invited to chant a prayer. The Abbess of Fo Guang Shan Temple of Toronto, Venerable Chueh Fan represented the Buddhist faith and chanted Master Venerable Hsing Yun’s Prayer: “Wishing through wisdom, we close the distance between self and others; wishing through selflessness, we eliminate all of our attachments; wishing through compassion, we reconcile the conflicts between nations." 

The Chief of Peel Regional Police, Nishan Durajappah and the Regional Municipality of Peel Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Lawrence Loh were invited to the Prayer Breakfast. They updated the current situations on community safety as well as how the pandemic is evolving. The Executive Director of the Mississauga Food Bank Meghan Nicholls also urged all leaders to show generosity by supporting food donations to the communities in need.  

Towards the end of the Prayer Breakfast, participants were divided into groups to discuss the theme of “Nurturing Diversity”, and proposed offering a “Food Garden” to the vulnerable community to provide them with psychological comfort and help them overcome food insecurity.  

By Kelly Liu

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