On February 3, 2026 , UPF Netherlands Celebrated the World Interfaith harmony Week at the Scientology Chapel, Amsterdam, with the theme, “Creating Sacred Space: Awakening the Heart”.
Summary of the event.
See below for the full report.
Amsterdam Interfaith Group Shares Ways to Create “Sacred Space”
Amsterdam, Netherlands – Representatives of various religious groups gathered at the Scientology Chapel in Amsterdam on February 3, 2026, to observe World Interfaith Harmony Week. Under the theme, “Creating Sacred Space: Awakening the Heart,” several speakers presented their perspectives on the topic.
Representing Scientology as the host of the event, Mr. Robert Kruijt warmly welcomed the guests, and stressed the importance of such interfaith meetings in order to understand one another and work together toward peace and harmony.
Among the speakers, Mr. Wim Koetsier, secretary general of UPF-The Netherlands, offered the view that the Creator is working to bring all people into unity through true love. He called on people of goodwill from all religions to work together in harmony for this purpose.
Mr. Cor Rijlaarsdam, representing Sufism, agreed that all people are brothers and sisters, as one family under God. He pointed out the shared origins of Judaism, Islam and Christianity as descendants of Abraham. While people of faith want to realize goodness, he reminded the audience that there is also an ongoing battle between good and evil. He quoted the poet Rumi and St. Francis of Assisi to stress the virtues that people of faith should embody, including generosity, compassion, modesty and humility.
Following these speeches, singer Ms. Sapia Pia Marasabessy, accompanied by Mr. Hans Campman on piano, gave a lovely rendition of “You’ve Got a Friend.”
The next speaker, Mr. Bart Ten Broek, was a teacher who comes from an Orthodox Christian background. He described his spiritual perspective as based on rational principles, but with an eye for mysticism. He stressed the importance of interacting with others, and sharing stories, especially about moving experiences, including encounters with God. As a teacher, he said, he had experienced the importance of stories.
The final speaker was Mr. Ari van Buuren, a theologian, pastor, and Gestalt therapist, who works as a spiritual counselor at the University Medical Center in Utrecht. He said that love is central to his work, along with mutual respect, as the people he counsels include Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and Christians from various denominations.
He said that loving encounters open the path to God, creating a sacred space where the heart is awakened. Seeking connection is therefore important. Spiritual people are called upon to generate trust and awaken positivity in others, he said.
Full report
Robert Kruijt of the department external relations for Scientology warmly welcomed the speakers and everyone else.
He stressed the importance of interfaith meetings in order to understand each other better and work together for peace and harmony. However, due to a bad cold he was unable to stay longer and handed over the task of MC to his colleague Carola Goodwin.
A Viewpoint from Sufism
The first speaker was Cor Rijlaarsdam, a practitioner of Sufism. He expressed that in Sufism, the path within, towards God, is important. God is the most merciful. Man is created with weakness and needs the help of God. In essence, all people are brothers and sisters, one family under God, coming from the first ancestors, Adam and Eve.
The Jewish religion, Islam and Christianity have their roots in Abraham. True faith wants to realise goodness. The Golden Rule is an example and the practice of love. However, there is also the battle between good and evil, the fight with the devil. Goodness is in the light and evil in the darkness.
He also mentioned the “Seven Advices of the famous poet Rumi”:
- In generosity and helping others: be like the river
- In compassion and grace: be like the sun.
- In concealing others’ faults: be like the night.
- In anger and fury: be like the dead.
- In modesty and humility: be like the soil.
- In tolerance: be like the ocean.
- Either you appear as you are, or: be as you appear.
And the “7 lessons of St. Francis of Assisi”:
- Humility: Embracing Poverty of Spirit
- Seeing God in All Creation
- Love for the Poor and the Sick
- Joy in Simplicity
- Willingness to Suffer for Christ
- Brotherhood and Peace
- Living in Constant Prayer and Communion with God
In conclusion, he said that in this World Interfaith Harmony Week, respect is very important when we meet people from other religions and also the awareness that we are one family under God. Let us work together for Peace and lead a simple life, living for the sake of the wellbeing of all of us.
Introduction WIHW and a Viewpoint from UPF
The next presentation was from Wim Koetsier, secretary general of the Universal Peace Federation in The Netherlands. First, he explained the origins of World Interfaith Harmony Week, using information found on the United Nations website. He then explained how a common thread throughout history is the Creator's work to lift humanity out of the misery of a conflicted existence.
The World Interfaith Harmony Week is based on the pioneering work of The Common Word initiative. This initiative, which started in 2007, called for Muslim and Christian leaders to engage in a dialogue based on two common fundamental religious Commandments: Love of God, and Love of the Neighbour, without nevertheless compromising any of their own religious tenets. These Two Commandments are at the heart of the three Monotheistic religions and therefore provide the most solid theological ground possible.
The World Interfaith Harmony Week extends the Two Commandments by adding ‘Love of the Good and Love of the Neighbour’. This formula includes all people of goodwill. It includes those of other faiths, and those with no faith.
The World Interfaith Harmony Week provides a platform—one week in a year—when all interfaith groups and other groups of goodwill can show the world what a powerful movement they are. The thousands of events organized by these groups often go unnoticed, not only by the general public, but also by other groups themselves. This week will allow for these groups to become aware of each other and strengthen the movement by building ties and avoiding duplicating each others’ efforts.
It is hoped that this initiative will provide a focal point from which all people of goodwill can recognize that the common values they hold far outweigh the differences they have and, thus, provide their communities with a strong dosage of peace and harmony:
- Recognizing the imperative need for dialogue among different faiths and religions in enhancing mutual understanding, harmony and cooperation among people;
- Recalling with appreciation various global, regional and subregional initiatives on mutual understanding and interfaith harmony including the Tripartite Forum on Interfaith Cooperation for Peace, and the initiative “A Common Word”;
- Recognizing that the moral imperatives of all religions, convictions and beliefs call for peace, tolerance and mutual understanding;
- Reaffirms that mutual understanding and interreligious dialogue constitute important dimensions of a culture of peace;
- Proclaims the first week of February of every year the World Interfaith Harmony Week between all religions, faiths and beliefs;
- Encourages all States to support, on a voluntary basis, the spread of the message of interfaith harmony and goodwill in the world’s churches, mosques, synagogues, temples and other places of worship during that week, based on love of God and love of one’s neighbour or on love of the good and love of one’s neighbour, each according to their own religious traditions or convictions;
- Requests the Secretary-General to keep the General Assembly informed of the implementation of the present resolution.
After this explanation of the start of the world Interfaith Harmony Week, Wim Koetsier offered an important viewpoint of the Unification Movement, which wants to show that the Creator is working to bring all people in unity with Him through True Love. Therefore, He calls on all religions and people of good will to work together in harmony for this purpose.
Jesus said that God was not our father, but the devil. Because of the fall of the first man and woman during their period of growth toward spiritual maturity (union with God in love), the fallen archangel Lucifer came to stand between God and humanity. Instead of "love God and your neighbour," the great power of love was no longer in the service of God, but in the service of selfishness, greed, power, and life at the expense of others. Humanity became a servant of a servant who had turned himself against his Creator.
However, God did not abandon humanity but immediately began the process of restoring fallen humanity. In this process, the Creator is working to restore humanity to the position of child of God, according to the original plan.
The first step is to become a servant of God (Old Testament, following the Law), then the next step is to become an adopted child, a stepchild (New Testament, where Faith is the guiding force and an awakening Love for God), and finally, to become a child of God again (Completed Testament, serving God based on True Love). This is a common thread in Providence, to free humanity from the rule of evil forces that do everything in their power to thwart God's efforts.
The evil strategy is primarily aimed at keeping humanity away from God through temptation, denying God's existence, and preventing humanity from fulfilling its responsibilities. For example, God sends prophets who call on people to listen to Him, only to be persecuted. Even the sending of God's own Son ended in death. If direct following of God is blocked, suffering ensues under all kinds of injustice, primarily affecting good people. This builds up a kind of credit for God to return with a new attempt, which, despite everything, will still lead to elevating a portion of humanity to a higher level of civilization. Their responsibility then becomes to further expand this civilization toward the construction of God's Kingdom.
This year, Open Doors reported that 388 million Christians are being persecuted. Are Christians truly criminals, or is something wrong with this world?
God created this world, provided it with a manual, in which natural laws play a role on the one hand, and moral values and principles on the other, to enable a good life for everyone. Why wouldn't we follow these? The founders of European cooperation after World War II applied general Christian principles: working together for the well-being of citizens and for the glory of God, sharing resources, has led to peace in Europe. If we abandon these principles, we will enter a downward spiral.
Freedom of belief and Interfaith Harmony are intended to provide opportunities for God's voice to be heard and for peace and well-being to be practically embodied by people recognizing and fulfilling their responsibilities. Let us hold this freedom and harmony in high regard.
After a musical performance by Hans Campman (piano) and Sapia Pia Marasabessy, performing the song “You’ve got a friend” the program continued with a speech of Bart Ten Broek.
From the Viewpoint of a Teacher
Before he came to Amsterdam, Bart Ten Broek visited a meeting in a Protestant Church, where people who had their birthdays recently came together to keep contact with each other. When he said he had to leave for a meeting in the context of the World Interfaith Harmony Week, he noticed that nobody knew about the existence of this week.
Bart was already familiar with the WIHW initiative through his work for the Peace Week and the Interfaith Council in The Hague. It appealed to him very much. This is good for the UN and politics. Love, peace, compassion, respect, and service are important values that we need. In this context, he has attended many meetings with a positive atmosphere, but with limited results in society. It's good to acknowledge these kinds of initiatives, but more needs to be achieved. Greater cohesion and mutual trust are needed. Differences must be bridged. That's why it's important to engage in dialogue. Encounters give rise to stories that we want to share.
Bart comes from an orthodox Christian tradition with rational principles, but also with an eye for mysticism. A key aspect of this was sharing stories about, for example, how we encountered God, experienced His guidance, and how we connect with Him. The feeling that there is a certain guidance, has to do with how you connect with the Eternal One. It's about sharing what connects us to the Eternal through stories. Then you often encounter surprises. Stories have played a major role in education at schools. Nowadays the emphasis is on language and arithmetic. As a teacher, Bart has thoroughly experienced the importance of stories.
He once drove to a school with an Iman and a Protestant elder. The conversation between the two was captivating. Words were spoken from the heart and from their bond with God. In this manner by sharing what moves us, we must find new ways to give shape to the WIHW with more people. Look for stories and try to feed those stories with what you experience yourself and how you position yourself in this world. Go beyond yourself and tell your story. Learn from authentic narrative forms and define your place in the world. How can we share our authenticity, our values and our beliefs with others? Do not only turn in on ourselves and cherish ourselves, but pray with open eyes and work with others. We need different words than those we are used to. We must find words that truly reach the other person and resonate with him or her.
From the Viewpoint of a Care Giver
The final speaker was Ari van Buuren, theologian, pastor, and Gestalt therapist. Because of his work as a spiritual counselor at the University Medical Center in Utrecht, he also calls himself a spiritual care giver.
For him, love is central to his work. But what is love? He has officiated many weddings, where bride and groom promise to love each other. It's about the other person loving you. You are loved. Through the other person, you get to know yourself. Your partner reciprocates.
A psychotic friend made him wonder how that person had become unbalanced. Ari wanted to become a pastor, but felt it was important to first gain experience working in psychiatry. There, he learned lessons from psychiatric patients. He also learned a great deal from people on the path to death as a terminal caregiver. This allowed him to experience life much more deeply and beautifully. He sometimes wondered if great religious leaders like Jesus, Muhammad, and Buddha might nowadays have ended up in psychiatric institutions.
At the UMC, he was tasked with establishing multicultural spiritual care. This included Muslims, Hindus, and various Christian denominations. Mutual respect plays a key role here. In a hospital, people heal, but also die. In both cases, proper guidance is essential.
The UMC has a large Meditation Center with various areas for Jews, Christians, Muslims, humanists, Buddhists, and Hindus. It can hold 12,000 candles. A House of God for all is an important ideal for Ari.
At a UPF conference, he connected with an Indonesian woman, an expert on Islam, who had written a piece about Meister Eckard. This encounter led to her being invited to a United Religions' Initiative meeting in Oxford, where they shared stories. The goal was to use these stories to illustrate the quality of each other's religions.
When an encounter takes place in love, the path to God is opened. This creates a Sacred Space, where the heart is awakened and connects with God's Heart.
Seeking connection is important. Spiritual people are called to generate trust. With something spiritual from our own hearts, we can awaken something positive in others.
When diverse faiths come together in spiritual care, it is about mobilizing the spiritual powers that lie within each person. This is comparable to the work of a midwife.