RELIGIONS
Italy: a meeting at the “peace bell” Some 250 representatives of 11 religions and 35 Countries gathered in Rovereto (Italy) on the invitation of the “Peace Bell Foundation” and “Religions for Peace/Europe” to address the topic of “Shared values in transforming Europe. The contributions of cultures and religions”. The meeting was held under the auspices of the Council of Europe and is set within the framework of the year 2008 elected the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue. Speakers include the archbishop of Trent, Msgr. Luigi Bressan, Imam Yaha Pallavicini from Coreis, the Lutheran bishop of the Church of Norway Gunnar Stalsett and Metropolitan bishop Emmanuel from the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. “Participants – stated the final document – explored the possibility of sharing mutual enriching experiences, openness and cooperation, taking on the responsibility of promoting a peaceful citizenship” . However, they also did confront reality, whereby differences engender “tensions” and “the painful elements triggering racial and religious discrimination”. Religious leaders voiced their concern for the ongoing “and progressing xenophobia”. In the final ceremony religious leaders expressed a series of commitments emerged during the meeting and which were read to the presence of a group of children from Rovereto, representing children from all over Europe. The first commitment is to expand and strengthen the experience of Interreligious Councils. “Recognising there is no peace among religions without interreligious education – is stated in paragraph 2 – we commit ourselves to accompany, encourage and promote interreligious education”. To this regard, the idea was launched of a Week of Interreligious Dialogue” to be held each year, including events and projects aimed at intercultural understanding. England: welcome to the Dalai LamaIn the United Kingdom for an 11-day visit, Tenzin Gyatso, 14° Dalai Lama, spiritual leader of the Tibetan People, on May 23rd met the Country’s religious leaders. The meeting, held in the palace of Lambeth, seat of the archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams – was also attended by Catholic archbishop Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor. On the same day, the Dalai Lama met with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. In order to avoid tensions with Beijing, Tenzin Gyatso was received by Gordon Brown in Lambeth’s office; thus, no Downing Street. This choice was dictated by the prudence, which led the English Premier to meet the Dalai Lama in his role as spiritual and not as political leader. Reporting the meeting to religious leaders, the archbishop of Canterbury declared, “Religious leaders have gathered to welcome His Holiness the Dalai Lama. His words were received with much interest, especially as relates to the priority of compassion in our religious traditions”. After an exchange of opinions, the meeting concluded with a moment of silence. Orthodox and Anglicans: consultative committeeOn May 21-23, in the seat of the Patriarch of Constantinople in Istanbul, the reunion of the consultative committee for dialogue between Orthodox and Anglican faithful took place. The meeting was aimed at identifying the topics which ought to be broached in the forthcoming sessions of the mixed Commission for Orthodox-Anglican theological dialogue. A note issued at the end of the gathering stated the proposition for the Commission to continue exploring the issue of theological anthropology, which encompasses a wide range of theological and ethical questions. During the reunion, bishop Hilarion from Vienna, who is also the President of the representative seat of the Orthodox Church to European Institutions, brought up Estonia’s Apostolic Church’s participation in the dialogue, which was established by the Patriarchate of Constantinople but isn’t recognized by the Patriarch of Moscow. Hilarion guarded against the risk of seeing reproduced in the Orthodox-Anglican dialogue the events occurred in Ravenna, where the Russian delegation abandoned the works of the mixed Catholic-Orthodox delegation.
