Leading the Spiritual Renaissance

Hyo Jin Moon August 24, 1990 7th CARP Convention of World Students Paris, France

Distinguished guests and fellow students:

It is a great pleasure to once again address the world students gathered here for the annual CARP convention.

I hope the time we spend together in this beautiful city of Paris will be enjoyable and memorable for you and that you will have an opportunity to experience the rich cultural heritage of the French nation.

Since our first convention in Korea in 1984, these gatherings have always been very exciting and have inspired great hope among the participants. Whenever thousands of young people from more than 84 nations gather in one place for such a noble purpose, it is bound to encourage feelings of optimism and expectation.

But this year is especially exciting. As we meet here in Paris in August 1990, it is perhaps easier than ever to see the potential in our world for universal peace and friendship. We have not yet seen the end of tyranny but it is clear, judging from current events, that tyrants who prey on their weaker neighbors will face a world united in opposition against them.

Since we met in London last year, our world has experienced some remarkable changes which were unthinkable a year ago.

Many of you attended the fourth CARP Convention in Berlin in 1987. I hope you still have vivid memories of our march to the Berlin Wall. There were songs of liberation and we prayed together with our hands on that wall which had divided Berlin since 1961. The banners read "De Mauer Mus Veg" ("The Wall Must Go") and I am sure many Berliners saw us as naive and idealistic dreamers.

But that dream has become a reality. The wall has gone! With the help of these university students, the heavy cloak of oppression has been rolled back and most of the nations of Eastern Europe are free to decide their future direction.

The relationship between the superpowers is improving almost daily and we are witnessing a truly remarkable degree of friendship and cooperation.

But the real importance of all these changes lies not so much in their immediate results as in the opportunities which they provide. It is not a time to sit back and expect that new freedoms in Eastern Europe will somehow produce universal happiness.

The experience of the United State shows us that political freedom and material prosperity offer no guarantees of a healthy society. Crime, prejudice, disease and drug abuse continue to plague the American cities. Clearly, this is a time that demands our involvement.

In spite of these continuing social problems, we find ourselves presented with a unique opportunity to assist and to participate in the shaping of a new world order.