Faith leaders, elected officials break bread, call for peace amid global conflict at Newport Beach Prayer Breakfast
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People representing many of the diverse faiths practiced in Orange County gathered in Newport Beach Thursday to break bread and plead for unity while opening a forum to raise divisive issues affecting communities around the world.
More than 100 people shared eggs, sausage, fruit and pastries at the Newport Mesa Irvine Interfaith Council’s Prayer Breakfast, held at The Church of Latter-Day Saints’ campus on Bonita Canyon Drive. Organizers billed “Fostering Peace Amid Global Conflict,” as the topic of that morning’s talks.
The event opened with a performance by the All-American Boys Chorus, featuring a capella renditions of “California Dreamin’,” “On The Road Again” and “God Bless America.” That was followed by opening remarks from the council’s executive director, Akbar Hussaini.
He said the world was in the midst of “strange times” and made reference to “extreme ideology both at home and abroad,” the victims of lynchings who “get their homes bulldozed for complaining about it,” and “genocide” that has been described as “essential pesticide.” He clarified in a follow-up interview with the Daily Pilot he was alluding to the persecution of Christians and Muslims in India, the Israeli invasion of Gaza and other conflicts.
“None of this is right,” Husssaini said. “None of this should be treated as normal. What should be normalized is a gathering like this, of people of different faiths working together for the common good.”
Hussaini and Rabbi Marcia Tilchin from the Jewish Collaborative of Orange County acknowledged there were people among the audience who hold starkly differing perspectives on world events, especially those targeting ethnic or religious communities. They said it was important for them to come together in forums like the interfaith council to have authentic, respectful, yet difficult discussions.
“I’ve been part of those and this has been, particularly since Oct. 7 with what’s happened in the Middle East, it has been hard,” Tilchin said. “... What I asked of my colleagues is to say that the challenges and the depth and the history of what’s happening in the Middle East and the geopolitics involved, it’s never as simple as it seems on the surface or what gets shared on social media. What I ask of them is that we work together to beautify Orange County, to be good to everybody.”
She was among the many Orange County faith leaders who led the gathering in prayer that morning. During her remarks, she called on people to “uproot bigotry intolerance, misogyny, racism discrimination and violence,” and “welcome the stranger and the immigrant and to honor the gifts of those who seek refuge and possibility here, as they have since our nation was born.”
Father George Okusi of St. John the Diviner Episcopal in Costa Mesa sought guidance and blessings for the people of California, especially those impacted by wildfires. The president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ Newport Beach stake, Daniel Livingston, proclaimed the importance of families, adding that “marriage between man and woman is essential to thy eternal plan loyal to each other and loyal to their marital vows.”
“Interfaith is not about us diluting our identity and trying to melt into a homogeneous glob,” Hussaini said. “It’s more about keeping our identities, putting that on display and coming together as a mosaic.”
The morning’s keynote speaker was Gaddi Vasquez, former director of the U.S. Peace Corps and Ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture based in rome. He’s an Orange County native raised by migrant farmworkers, and recalled how his family of four got by in a one-room trailer “borrowing” electricity. The statesman added that he previously worked for Southern California Edison.
“Whatever we lacked in material goods, we sustained ourselves with faith, love and support,” Vasquez said.
“I’m a proud American, but I’m also a survivor whose enduring faith has sustained me through periods of time when the odds seemed insurmountable.”
He described the destruction he witnessed in the aftermath of conflict in Afghanistan and other parts of the world. He has also seen the good that can happen when people of faith and others respond to the needs of the most vulnerable.
“I witnessed the impactful work of non-government organizations, faith-based organizations, individual efforts, and the application of humanitarian and financial aid that is giving the least among us a fighting chance.”
Newport Beach Mayor Joe Stapleton called Vasquez’s words inspiring, and described the prayer breakfast as a testament to the “power of prayer.” He and fellow council member Robyn Grant said the city was honored to facilitate a moment of unity and a forum between people of diverse viewpoints and backgrounds.
“We all have important places to be and important things to do,” Grant said. “Every single person in this room has family and friends and faith and community and service and work. But to take a little bit of time and reflect on what we can all share with each other is really powerful.”
Costa Mayor John Stevens, Irvine Mayor Larry Agran were also among the elected and appointed officials in attendance Thursday.
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