“Our common struggle against terrorism and extremism and the development of a dialogue between civilizations founded on mutual respect ought to be proclaimed to the world community. The millenarian experience of our religious traditions gives us a unique opportunity to tackle the challenges of our time”, declares a communiqué put out by the Patriarchate of Moscow to announce that the world Summit of religious leaders will be held in Moscow on 4-5 July and will be the object of a preliminary discussion to define its agenda at a conference scheduled for 25-26 May. The Patriarchate then announced it had sent invitations for the summit to a series of leading churchmen in the Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant worlds. At the Vatican’s Secretariat of State invitations have been received by Cardinal Angelo Sodano and the archbishop of Brussels, Cardinal Godfried Danneels. Invitations have also been sent to the archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, the archbishop of the Lutheran Church in Finland, Jukka Paarma, the moderator of the European Council of Religious Leaders, Bishop Gunnar Staalset, the general secretary of the Conference of European Churches, Colin Williams, and the general secretary of the World Council of Churches, Samuel Kobia. The grand Muftìs of Saudi Arabia and Syria and important exponents of the political and religious world in Iran have also been invited to attend. The results of the Summit – concludes the Patriarchate – regarding the role of religions for dialogue and the cooperation between civilizations, will be sent to the leaders of the G8 who will meet in St. Petersburg, also in July.
