The voice of religions

“The solution to world problems requires a global and independent outlook, marked also by spirituality”. For this reason 38 religious leaders convened in Bordeaux in Advance of the G8 summit due to be held in Deauville, France, next May 26-27. Catholic cardinals, Imams, Rabbis and Shintoist priests gathered on May 23-24 “to advance cooperation on shared concerns in relationship to the work of the G-8 Summit”. Orthodox Metropolitan Emmanuel (from the Ecumenical Patriarchate) and Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard, archbishop of Bordeaux, delivered the welcoming remarks. Panel speeches were also delivered by pastor Paul Paul Baty, President of the Protestant Federation of France, and by Mohammed Moussaoui, president of the Muslim community in France. Rabbi Richard Marker, from the International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultations, delivered keynote speeches. The Bordeaux Religious Leaders Summit continues a tradition of religious leaders’ summits organized in advance of G-8 or G-20 Summits that began in 2005 in the United Kingdom. The initiative was repeated each year since: 2006 Russia, 2007 Germany, 2008 Japan, 2009 Italy, and 2010 Canada. The purpose of the meeting is “to advance better principled cooperation among governments and religious communities in addressing the challenges of our day”.Taken seriously. Mario Marizziti, spokesman of the St. Egidio Community, conveyed to SIR Europe the issues that are most dear to the religious leaders: “World markets crisis and the need for a change in the anthropological model, along with the problem of redressing world justice unbalances in the Northern and Southern hemispheres with a special emphasis on climate change. These questions seriously weigh on situations marked by armed conflicts, security and poverty”. In Bordeaux, the religious leaders call upon G8 leadership to “implement initiatives to fulfil the Millennium Development goals, namely, to cut poverty rate by 50% within 2015, to provide 0.7 % of their GDP for assistance to the poorest countries and reduce Co2 emissions. New proposals include universal access to treatment to uproot AIDS”. The religious leaders will present a final statement addressed to the G8 Heads of State that “must be taken seriously”. As regards the reception of the document Marazzitti underlined “the request to establish new world governance procedures, including concerted action between the UN General Assembly, the G8 and G20 with the participation of religious leaders in the talks”. Marazziti commented on the general atmosphere marking the encounter of world religious: “There is the widespread belief that terrorism, fear and poverty can be overcome with dialogue, which is here is ongoing”. He concludes by pointing out that 2011 is a “special” year. Next September 11 world religious leaders will convene in Munich at the world Conference for Peace organized by the St. Egidio community marking 10 years since the attack on New York’s Twin Towers followed by the meeting of Religions for Peace in Assisi marking 25 years since the first meeting for peace to the presence of John Paul II in 1986. The document for the G8 meeting. Consists of several paragraphs calling for “expanded partnership based on deeply held and widely shared concerns” amongst Heads of Government and State of G8 and G20 countries, the UN General Assembly and Civil Society to address “common challenges” in the areas of economics, development, climate change, and notably, peace. The document that is being drawn up by religious leaders in Bordeaux, due to be presented for the G8 summit in Deauville states: “Steps need to be taken to bring the G8 and the G20 more formally within the framework of the United Nations System. The G20 must open its doors to low income countries and at the very least provide a permanent seat to the African Union and to Latin American and Asian Regional bodies”. The religious leaders underline: “The workings of both need to be made more transparent so that civil society and religious bodies can engage in its work, influence its decisions and ensure that commitments are delivered”. The document thus delves into the macro economic situation, climate change and development. The last paragraph is devoted to peace. “Global investments in peacemaking, which are miniscule compared to military budgets, should be increased and the non-military instruments useful for peacemaking strengthened and expanded. Violent military conflict typically results in the loss of innocent lives and disruption of society”. Therefore “effort should be made to utilize non-violent means to thwart terrorism and resolve disputes to advance peace”, the religious leaders point out in the statement.