On the occasion of the opening of the General Assembly of the United Nations, the Holy See Mission to the United Nations traditionally sponsors a Prayer Service for the United Nations Diplomatic Community and personnel, together with religious and ecumenical leaders in the New York area, the Mission announced on August 13, 2018.
This year the Prayer Service will take place on Monday, September 17, 2018, at 6:00 p.m. at the Church of the Holy Family, 315 East 47th Street (between First and Second Avenues).
Archbishop Luis Castro Quiroga of Colombia, the former President of the Colombian Bishops Conference and one of the leaders in the Colombian Peace Process, will give a brief meditation. As customary, the Holy See also invited the Secretary-General and the President-elect of the 73rd Session of the General Assembly to participate and give brief remarks.
According to a statement from the Holy See Mission, prayers will be offered in gratitude for all that the 72nd Session of the UN General Assembly has been able to achieve, and for the success of the 73rd Session of the General Assembly.
“It will be an occasion to entrust to God our efforts for peace in the world, for the development and advancement of the human family, for the completion and implementation of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration and the implementation of the Global Compact for Refugees, for the high level meeting on the fight against tuberculosis, and other upcoming events on the agenda of the 73rd Session,” according to the statement.
The Church of the Holy Family draws people of many nations. On October 4, 1965, Pope Paul VI held an ecumenical meeting in the church, marking the first occasion of a reigning pope to visit a parish church in the Western Hemisphere.
