Guardian

GENERAL Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye, has now taken his quest for the inclusion of religious leaders in the Middle East peace process to the United States Congress, where, alongside other religious leaders, a call has been made to widen the scope of the peace talks.

“It is time for the voice of religious leaders to be heard in the international arena together with the voice of academics and parliamentarians,” he said at a U.S. Capitol meeting during the week, attended by at least two U.S. Senators: Mike Lee, Republican from Utah, Dean Heller, Republican from Nevada, and a U.S. Congressman Louie Gohmert, from Texas.

Adeboye who also hinted that already the Nigerian government had bought into the idea, explained that such an inclusion “will fill a gap in global diplomacy,” specifically regarding the Middle East peace process.

Alongside other religious leaders from the Abrahamic faith groups-Judaism, Christianity and Islam, Adeboye has taken the same quest to world leaders at the United Nations, the European Union, the United Kingdom and Israel in the last one year.

In fact, a news report by New York Times in June this year described this effort as “Track III Diplomacy,” for the Middle East peace process, since there are other tracks at the regional and global levels, especially among politicians and public officials.

Speaking at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday afternoon, Adeboye, represented by the leader of the RCCG in North America, Pastor James Fadele, said the global religious leaders are seeking to empower “for the first time, a global network of spiritual leaders, educators and government officials,” to come together and fight intolerance racism, terrorism and violence at all levels.

Noting that the idea was first presented last June at the UN, where Adeboye personally unveiled the initiative, he added that the initiative “we are hoping to develop is also aimed to construct the defences of peace in the minds of men,” just as the UNESCO Constitution states.

The Middle East conflict, Adeboye continued: “Is not only about politics-it is also about religious and moral values. The only way to solve it is through education for a culture of peace among all sides to the conflict.”

The prominent cleric said the crisis in the Middle East is also about history, religious values and ideal, including legal principles, which is why he is arguing around the globe that “the arena cannot be left solely to politicians.”

According to Adeboye, the Middle East peace negotiations “have been ongoing for decades with no results when left only to the politicians.  The gap has to be filled with the involvement of religious leaders, parliamentarians and academic leaders in order to achieve success.”