Interconfessional dialogue in Grozny

Participants of the Youth Forum in Chechnya express their intention to create a federal religious (Muslim and Orthodox) TV channel.

The first three-day-long North Caucasian Youth Religious Forum ‘To peace and harmony through faith’ took place recently in Grozny. Young activists from all North Caucasian districts had an opportunity to exchange their experiences in religious and missionary activities, as well as to create an atmosphere of tolerance. The high-ranking state and church officials who attended the Forum, the president of the Chechen republic Ramzan Kadyrov among them, noted that the issue of terrorism is not the subject of discussion anymore.

Orthodox and Muslim youth gathered at a round table after a tour around Grozny.

The participants of the Forum stressed that religious training is a major element of the whole education of the young generation. The students of Stavropol seminary described their activities in orphanages and juvenile prisons. The Muslims of North Ossetia told the Forum abut the restoration of religious traditions in their district, for example, the reconstruction of Beslan mosque and the Muslim cultural center foundation in Vladikavkaz. Moreover, a ten-day Orthodox-Muslim youth camp is due to be launched in Kabardino-Balkaria. All the delegates agreed that young people should fight against the pernicious influence of the modern world surrounding young people from their schooldays.

The Forum gave young people an opportunity to discuss possible solutions to the above-mentioned problem as well as many others. The Orthodox activists of Chechnya presented their way to fight nationalist propaganda – through internet blogs.

In the opinion of the Youth Parliament of North Ossetia representative, Peter Pavlov, the reason for religious intolerance in the Caucasus lies in its social and economic backwardness.

All the participants supported the idea of creating a federal religious (Muslim and Orthodox) TV channel. They also proposed paying special attention to religious higher education.

In the end, the Forum recommended that the officials conduct Orthodox-Muslim youth summer camps in all the regions of the North Caucasian Federal district.

Timur Utsaev, Grozny, exclusively to VK.