Pujya Sadhviji Attends Sant’Egidio Peace Conference in Madrid

Pujya Sadhviji Attends Sant’Egidio Peace Conference in Madrid

September 17, 2019

Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswatiji, Secretary-General of the Global Interfaith WASH Alliance participated in high-level meetings at the Peace With No Borders conference in the Spanish capital.

17 SEPTEMBER 2019 MADRID: Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswatiji, Secretary-General of the Global Interfaith WASH Alliance and Director of the famed International Yoga Festival, traveled to Madrid for high-level discussions and meetings at the Community of Sant’Egidio-sponsored Peace With No Borders: Religions and Cultures in Dialogue conference. She was invited to represent the Hindu faith at the gathering of over 300 interfaith and civic leaders from around the world. Sadhvi Bhagawatiji was warmly-received by the global delegates as she participated in multiple panel discussions and offered insights and ideas covering a wide-range of topics, but focusing on Prayer as a Source of Peace and Ecology and the Common Destiny.

Of particular note was the opportunity to participate in the Ecology and Common Destiny panel, where Sadhviji had the chance to be a part of a discussion with Special Advisor to the Secretary General of the United Nations, Jeffrey D Sachs, and Minister for the Ecological Transition of Spain, Teresa Ribera about the need for consciousness-raising to change the direction of global climate policy. In that discussion, she also shared about our opportunity and responsibility to be, as Mahatma Gandhiji said, the change we want to see in the world because, everyday, we have the opportunity to be a part of the solution.



In addition to panel appearances, Sadhviji also participated in face-to-face dialogues with the Chief Rabbi of Israel, Ysrael Meir Lau, as well as with Adama Dieng, Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General for the Prevention of Genocide, to whom she presented a copy of her new book, “Come Home to Yourself.” She also joined-in with the Peace Procession that was part of the closing ceremonies, and hosted special puja for the delegates, blessing them and their efforts to bring peace to their communities and their homelands.

Everyone gave such beautiful and inspiring talks about the responsibility we each must take to protect and preserve the precious environment here on planet Earth. Sadhviji shared the impact of a vegetarian diet and how it is no longer simply a lifestyle decision or a spiritual one, but it now is a decision that anyone who truly cares about the future of our planet must make, sharing that it is the most powerful impact each of us can have, every day, on combating climate change, preserving water, and addressing world hunger.


Present at the conclave and joining Sadhviji in panel discussions were Tiscar Espigares, Community of Sant’Egidio in Spain; Cardinal Carlos Osoro Sierra, Archbishop of Madrid; Andrea Riccardi, Founder of the Community of Sant’Egidio; Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR); Jeffrey D Sachs, Special Adviser to the United Nations Secretary General; Faustin-Archange Touadera, President of the Central African Republic; Israel Meir Lau, Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv; Ilarion, Orthodox Metropolitan Bishop of the Moscow Patriarchate; Mohammad Al-Mahrasawi, Chancellor of the Al-Azhar University, Egypt; Jean-Pierre Delville, Catholic Bishop of Belgium; Muhammad Abdul Khabir Azad, Grand Imam of Lahore Mosque, Pakistan; Avraham Giesser, President of Mishpetei Eretz Institute, Israel; Tejkaran Jain, Jainism India; Jacques Mourad, Syrian Catholic Monk; Gerhard Ulrich, Bishop, Lutheran World Federation, Germany; Arie Folger, Chief Rabbi of Vienna, Austria; Ambrogio Spreafico, Catholic Bishop, Italy; Teresa Ribera, Minister for tthe Ecological Transition, Spain; Seyed Abolhassan Navab, President of the University of Religions, Iran; Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, Bishop, Chair of the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany; Nahla el Seidy, Al-Azhar University, Egypt; and, Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson, President of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, Holy See, Rome, Italy.


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