The service took place in front of King Sigismund's Column, a landmark site in central Warsaw, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.
The Chief Rabbi of Poland, Michael Schudrich, led the prayer in the Polish capital alongside Catholic Bishop Rafał Markowski, Lutheran pastor Grzegorz Giemza, and Poland-based Turkish journalist Huseyin Celik, who represented the Muslim community, according to officials.
Schudrich said: “We are here together to pray for peace in the sense of Shalom, that is, for God’s grace.”
He thanked everyone who joined the prayer, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
Schudrich told the crowd that “one small glimmer is enough to ensure that a dark room is not totally dark anymore.”
He added, as quoted by PAP: “Each of us is such a glimmer, so when we stand together it creates a big light."
The Muslim community's Celik said that Friday’s prayer was for peace “in this volatile region” so that “unity replaces division and love conquers hate,” as well as for “strength for those who lost their loved ones.”
Celik added: “We condemn all acts of violence and terrorism and call on the international community to unite to ease the tensions and look for lasting solutions for peace.”
The Catholic Church's Markowski said that “real peace emerges not from signed treaties, but in the human heart, which opens itself to God.”
He added that it was necessary “to talk to each other” in order to reach consensus.
During the service, participants read Psalms 121, 128 and 122 from the Bible and concluded the get-together by singing the Jewish prayer for peace called Oseh Shalom, the PAP news agency reported.
In attendance were members of the public as well as several rabbis and Christian clergymen, according to news outlets.
Hamas’ deadly attacks on Israel at the weekend killed 1,300 people, with a further 150 kidnapped into the Gaza Strip, British broadcaster BBC reported on Friday.
Meanwhile, over 1,500 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched retaliatory air strikes last weekend, according to Palestinian health officials.
Israel on Friday ordered everyone in north Gaza, some 1.1 million people, to relocate to the south of the Strip within 24 hours "for safety and protection," as it proceeded with its military operation against Hamas, according to the United Nations.
(pm/gs)
Source: IAR, PAP, BBC