Ambon to host religious meeting

AMBON, Maluku: Ambon is scheduled to host the Asian Religious Youth Assembly meeting between July 4 and July 6 of this year.

The Ambon event represents a preliminary meeting ahead of the World Conference and Peace meeting to be held in Kyoto, Japan, in August next year.

According to the chairman of Interreligious Faith for Humanity in Maluku, Rev. Jacky Manuputty, Ambon had been selected after Bali and Yogyakarta. "When we asked for the meeting to be held in Maluku, it was immediately agreed to. The meeting will be attended by delegations from 22 Asian countries," Jacky said.

The meeting is intended to identify the unique spiritual, moral and social values of religious youth to help prevent violence and improve security in Asia.

The Indonesian participants, he said, would hail from Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, Papua, the Central Sulawesi town of Poso, and Maluku. The participants would also visit places of worship in Ambon.

"The participants will meet with young people from Ambon and will organize a work camp in Tulehu village, Salahutu district," he said. -- JP