Dr. Hong, Tao-Tze, President of FOWPAL, Honored with the 2024 Turin Global Peace Award
On the afternoon of May 11, 2024, during Italy's prestigious annual cultural event, the Turin International Book Fair (Salone Internazionale del Libro Torino), Dr. Hong, Tao-Tze, President of the Federation of World Peace and Love (FOWPAL) and Zhang-men-ren of Tai Ji Men, received the 2024 Turin Global Peace Award from the FEDINSIEME (Faiths Together) Committee. This award recognizes his exceptional contributions to promoting world peace. Following the ceremony, a musical performance took place at the renowned Terrazza Solferino, where Dr. Hong and the FOWPAL delegation presented a rare cultural performance blending qigong, martial arts, and the arts, fostering intercultural exchange.
The Turin International Book Fair, taking place from May 9 to 13, 2024, at the Lingotto Fiere Exhibition Centre, brought together leading figures of the cultural landscape around the world, spanning literature, philosophy, science, arts, journalism, religion, cinema, and music. Regarded as one of Europe’s premier cultural festivals, it drew over 222,000 attendees, setting a record. Additionally, more than thousand of associated events were hosted in various venues throughout Turin.
As a highlight of the Turin International Book Fair's official program , at the "Model of Peace: The Highest Teaching Form of Humanity" event co-organized by the Center for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR) and FEDINSIEME (Faiths Together), represented by lawyer Francesco Curto, Chairman of FEDINSIEME (Faiths Together) presented the 2024 Turin Global Peace Award to Dr. Hong. The award recognized Dr. Hong's unwavering dedication to promoting a culture of conscience, love, and peace for the betterment of global harmony. In addition, Dr. Samuel Radebe, the founder of the South African indigenous spiritual movement, was also awarded the Global Spirituality Award.
Dr. Massimo Introvigne, founder of CESNUR, served as the host and many NGO leaders attended the event and witnessed the award ceremony. During the event, Massimo Introvigne announced the achievements of the two award recipients. Among them, he mentioned that Dr. Hong, Tao-Tze, founded the Tai Ji Men Qigong Academy and FOWPAL, to promote the culture of love and peace worldwide, and was instrumental in the United Nations designation of April 5th as the "International Day of Conscience."
Francesco Curto, President of FEDINSIEME, expressed that the meeting was convened today because we needed to value and highlight the many positive elements that exist in the world, recognizing those who have deep spiritual gifts and a desire to build good relationships. Therefore, we formed a Candidate Evaluation Committee.
Dr. Hong expressed in his speech, “the United Nations designated April 5th as the International Day of Conscience in 2019, urging everyone to act according to their conscience and build a harmonious and sustainable world. Since 2014, FOWPAL has initiated the Movement of An Era of Conscience and launched the ‘Declaration of International Day of Conscience’ at the United Nations in New York in 2019. As an advocate for the International Day of Conscience, I have also been promoting conscience education and fostering a culture of peace through FOWPAL's global actions. This year, there is a proactive effort to advocate for relevant issues through the ‘World Day of Power of Hope’ at the United Nations, hoping that people around the world can take conscience-driven benevolent actions with sincerity and amplify the power of hope.” Dr. Hong encouraged everyone, “Let us unite and face international and national crises with compassion, courage, and true wisdom, actively seeking solutions for peace, harmony, and the benefit of all. Together, let us strive for our beautiful home.”
The 2024 Turin Global Peace Prize trophy was designed by Dr. Massimo Introvigne, drawing inspiration from the "Nike of Samothrace" displayed in the Louvre Museum in Paris. In Europe, especially Italy during the First and Second World Wars, Nike's image was widely used as a symbol of anti-war and peace. This design concept deepens the recognition of the contributions of Dr. Hong, the first recipient of this award, to global peace and his firm hope that justice and peace will eventually prevail.
Maria Gabriella Mieli, Responsabile Relazioni Esterne of the Universal Peace Federation, said that she appreciated the speech that Dr. Hong delivered and was happy to hear that he received this important award. Furthermore, she wanted to incorporate Dr. Hong's speech into their magazine, in appreciation of the good practices in order to reach peace and would like to promote such methods. Regarding the International Day of Conscience, she thought that an important point was that humanity in general should understand that even if people do not belong to any specific religion,each one of us has an individual spirituality, and the direct way to be in touch with our spirituality is our conscience. She felt happy to be here and to be with FOWPAL and look forward to starting something together, and thought that this was really very beautiful.
Subsequently, a celebratory musical performance took place at Terrazza Solferino, featuring diverse groups presenting music from various cultures, to commemorate the friendship of gathering together, the FOWPAL delegation presented a rich cultural performance blending Qigong, martial arts,music and dance, allowing attendees to immerse themselves in the uplifting power of the human spirit and the shared values of love and peace.
The musical performance included a rendition of the Italian folk classic "O Sole Mio," accompanied by guitar, symbolizing the celebration of our shared humanity and encouraging everyone to be the 'sun' in each other's lives, illuminating the world. A martial arts formation followed, emphasizing unity and the commitment to uphold justice. The graceful Tai Ji Men Royal Fan dance,represented the profound meaning of "giving kindness, receiving kindness." Through the elegant movements of the fan dance, it conveyed warm affections and helped dispel the worries in people's hearts. In the song "we can change the world", all the distinguished guests were invited to pray for the world.