King Hamad Global Centre attends ‘Annual National Prayer Breakfast’ in US

Washington, Feb. 7 (BNA): The King Hamad Global Centre for Peaceful Co-existence, represented by its Board of Trustees Chairman, Dr. Shaikh Khalid bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, and “This Is Bahrain” President, Betsy Mathieson, attended here today the 68th Annual National Prayer Breakfast. The event was attended by US President, Donald Trump, Vice-president, Mike Pence, Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, and House of Representatives Speaker, Nancy Pelosi. Thousands of US clerics, policymakers, and businessmen gathered at the Annual National Prayer Breakfast to speak about faith and religious freedom, while creating an opportunity for the religious community to build fruitful relationships with political and commercial communities. Dr. Shaikh Khalid bin Khalifa Al Khalifa met the US Secretary of State, and highlighted the efforts being exerted by the Kingdom of Bahrain to consolidate the principles of religious tolerance and peaceful co-existence. He also held a meeting with the US Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom, and Republican Party member,Sam Brownback, with whom he discussed the Kingdom's tireless efforts in promoting peaceful coexistence. Ambassador Brownback expressed his strong desire to participate in the next round table meeting in Manama, describing the previous round table hosted by Bahrain last December as one of the best meetings ever held in the region and at the world level, citing the size and quality of the attendees, including senior religious leaders, economic, business, cultural and intellectual figures, in addition to prestigious diplomatic and social figures. On the occasion, Dr. Shaikh Khalid bin Khalifa Al Khalifa underlined the commitment of the King Hamad Global Centre for Peaceful Co-existence to launching quality programmes and plans to achieve its goals of promoting the values of religious tolerance and peaceful co-existence, as well as rejecting hatred at the regional and global levels. The American invitation of the King Hamad Global Centre for Peaceful Co-existence to attend the 68th Annual National Prayer Breakfast was in recognition of the great efforts it is making at the local, regional and global levels to advance the values of tolerance, moderation, coexistence in peace and harmony, as well as the promotion of religious freedoms everywhere and anytime. It also reflects the appreciation of the US government, institutions, NGOs and religious organisations for the role played by the Kingdom of Bahrain in denouncing violence and hatred through consolidating inter-faith dialogue on the bases of tolerance and acceptance of the other, regardless of their sectarian affiliation or religious beliefs. Addressing the 68th Annual National Prayer Breakfast, President Trump underlined his country’s commitment to respecting all religions and freedom of performing prayers, stressing his respect for the sanctity of life. He pointed out that he had taken a historic action to “defend religious liberty, including the constitutional right to pray in public schools”, in addition to executive action to stop taxpayers' money from going to colleges or universities with anti-Semitism and anti-Christianity curricula.