"Ours is a time of great passions, new tensions, economic and social conflict… So, fundamental rights and freedoms need to be defended", by implementing the 1948 Charter, "with a new alliance of responsibilities, asking every person, group, faith or nation what it is prepared to do for the common good". Jonathan Sacks, head rabbi of the Commonwealth, speaks from Strasbourg, invited by the EU Parliament during one of the events for the Year of Intercultural Dialogue. He gives a speech on "mutual respect", the promotion of diversity, mutual understanding, the concrete nature of individual and common rights, the "new need of solidarity" that arises from the uncertainties of a global world. In addition, he reflects on the common history and states that "the past must be recalled to build a future of hope". Sacks, a philosopher and theologian, has been head rabbi of the Commonwealth since 1991: before him, other leading figures had spoken at the EU Parliament, such as the Great Mufti of Syria and the Patriarch of Constantinople. The Dalai Lama will be in Brussels on December 4th. (continued)
