By Chainarong Monthienvichienchai
THE recent 60th-anniversary celebration of the Second Vatican Council’s declaration Nostra Aetate in Rome inspired participants, including five young delegates from Thailand, to renew their commitment to interreligious dialogue, mutual respect, and peace in a divided world.
The Thai youth group, composed of middle and high school students from five schools, was selected to serve as Youth Peace Ambassadors from Thailand at the international gathering. Among them was Narawich Bunyarit, 15, a student at Assumption College in Bangkok.
The Youth Ambassadors joined the Thai delegation led by Somdej Phra Maha Thirachan, Abbot of Wat Phra Chetuphon Royal Temple (Wat Pho), and were among religious leaders from more than a dozen faith traditions, including Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism, and Christianity, in an extraordinary appeal for global peace with Pope Leo XIV.
“It was such a privilege to witness leaders of many religions together with the Holy Father,” Narawich told LiCAS News on Nov 8. “The celebration reminded us that dialogue is not merely an option but a sacred duty for building a better world.”
The event, organized at the Vatican by the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue, marked six decades since Nostra Aetate, or the Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions, was promulgated in 1965.
The document, signed by St Paul VI, was a watershed moment in Catholic history, encouraging mutual understanding and respect among people of different faiths.
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