For the fourth consecutive year, the Government of Mexico held the Interreligious Day for Peace, in which the Ministry of the Interior endorsed its commitment to continue collaborating with all religious denominations in the country and advance the peacebuilding agenda in the territory.
The venue for the meeting this 2022 is the Museum of World Cultures, whose inauguration was led by the head of the Unit for Religious Affairs, Prevention and the Reconstruction of the Social Fabric, Héctor Humberto Miranda Anzá, who highlighted that the Secretary of the Interior, Adán Augusto López Hernández, accompanies these efforts, through the Undersecretary of Democratic Development, Social Participation and Religious Affairs headed by its head, César Yáñez Centeno Cabrera.
Miranda Anzá indicated that this annual space provides the opportunity to continue putting on the table the issue of diversity and tolerance for all religious denominations within the framework of respect for the secular State.
“Since the beginning of this government, it has been a constant search to build bridges of collaboration with the different religious traditions that exist in Mexico to promote initiatives to build peace and rebuild the social fabric, which we can say, to date they have been advancing ”, emphasized Héctor Miranda Anzá.
The head of the Unit for Religious Affairs, Prevention and the Reconstruction of the Social Fabric added that the Government of Mexico has found a genuine desire to contribute to the construction of peace, which today is beginning to bear fruit, “this sum of wills contributes somehow to this yearning for peace that we Mexicans have.”
The general director of Religious Affairs of the Interior, Jorge Eduardo Basaldúa Silva, explained that the work carried out in the matter includes three lines of action: training, dialogue and dissemination. In the first item, he reported on the holding of diplomas, courses, seminars, workshops and the program aimed at trainers in promoting religious tolerance.
In terms of dialogue, he highlighted the network of public servants of religious affairs and the discussion ‘Towards a dialogue between feminisms and religion’. Regarding dissemination activities, she highlighted the launch of the awareness campaign on the issue of the disappearance of people ‘Embroidering peace, building hope’, as well as the Documentary Memory of State Auxiliaries of Religious Affairs, in addition to the reprinting of the Law of Religious Associations and Public Worship, in a special edition for its 30 years.
The annual interreligious days are held on the occasion of the International Day of Peace declared by the General Assembly of the United Nations Organization (UN), and which is celebrated every September 21.
The Government of Mexico has held these meetings since 2019 with the aim of promoting respect for religious diversity in the country and supporting the culture of peace through a space for dialogue with actors in the religious field.
This year, the IV Interreligious Conference for Peace includes the dialogue tables ‘Building paths for peace. Articulation between religious and governmental actors’, and ‘Human spirituality: its rites and symbols’, in addition to the exhibition ‘Divine Worlds and Sacred Objects’.
During the inauguration, the director of the National Museum of World Cultures, Alejandra Gómez Colorado, was present, as well as leaders, representatives and members of various religious denominations in the country.