When the Heart - M. Leunig from Telling Lives on Vimeo
The people of Christchurch, New Zealand, were awarded the Charter for Compassion’s prestigious Compassion Humanitarian Award in recognition of their response to the terror attack at Al Noor Mosque. The awards ceremony was held on 10 November in Monterrey, Mexico.
The Mayor of Christchurch, Lianne Dalziel, addressed the ceremony in a video message that was played at the Charter for Compassion’s ten-year anniversary event in Monterrey. Addressing the community response to the attack, in which 51 people were killed, Mayor Dalziel said, “The incredible outpouring of love, compassion and kindness was the instinctive response of the people of Christchurch to the horrific events on March 15, when our Muslim brothers and sisters were attacked in their place of worship as they prayed...
“It was the language of our Muslim brothers and sisters, who spoke of peace, love, compassion, but more importantly, they spoke of the power of the act of forgiveness...
“We thank the Charter for Compassion for recognizing Christchurch on the international stage as we too wish to play our part in making sure that this becomes the way in which we reconnect to our humanity, and that we reject violence, we reject hatred and we reject all that divides us. We are one.”
David Dahlin, the new Executive Director of the Charter for Compassion, commented,
“I believe we can only achieve a world of love and peace by working within, between, and beyond religious traditions. Only then can we rise above polarization and embrace compassion. The people of Christchurch embody the true spirit of what it means to be human, and are worthy recipients of the Compassion Humanitarian Award.”
The first Compassion Humanitarian Award was made in San Francisco in 2014. Previous recipients include organizations such as One Billion Rising, AIDS/LifeCycle, and individuals such as Libby and Len Traubman, Greg Fischer and Joan Blades.
