Permanent factors of inter-religious cooperation

 

Permanent factors of inter-religious cooperationBy Vestnik KavkazaThe Sixth Congress of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia has ended in Moscow. The congress was attended by delegates from 180 Russian Jewish communities, as well as representatives of other traditional religions, foreign diplomats, statesmen and public figures, including the Israeli Ambassador to Russia, Dorit Golender, the Mufti of Moscow Albir Krganov and the chairman of the Synodal Department for Relations between the Church and Society of the ROC, Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin.In an interview with Vestnik Kavkaza, Vsevolod Chaplin said: "It is very important that the event was attended by representatives of different religious traditions, statesmen, artists. This is a good example of how a private event centered on the life of the Jewish community in Russia is open to others at the same time. People talk about their own, as we say in the church, and common hope. They also talk about common challenges, we certainly have to talk about them today. People who want to preserve their religious lifestyle in everything, starting with their appearance and ending with their nutrition and observance of certain values, are currently facing major challenges. People try to tell them that they are old fashioned, that they have to change. In such circumstances, we need to be able to defend the values that religious people consider good, not because they are old, but because they are eternal."Responding to a question about the contacts between representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church and the clergy of the South Caucasus, Chaplin said: "Despite the fact that until recently between Georgia and Russia relations were very difficult - even now they are still complicated - relations between the two churches of Georgia and Russia are very intense. Georgian bishops are coming to us, our pilgrims, bishops, priests are going to Georgia. With the Armenian church we are united doctrinally, but we maintain a very good relationship. We have one of the multinational quarters, a Muslim mosque has been built there, the Armenian Church was built much faster, by the way. And, of course, our communication with the Armenian Church and the Georgian church, our close friendship with the Spiritual Board of Muslims of Azerbaijan, headed by Sheikh-ul-Islam Haji Allahshukur Pashazadeh. All these are constants of interreligious cooperation of our church. This cooperation has been going on for many years. We supported it in the difficult Soviet times and now we are developing, we feel, in fact, long-term friends."The Sixth Congress adopted a resolution "On counteracting terrorism and religious intolerance in the modern world." It states that "the terrorist attacks in Israel, the events in France in January 2015 (the attack on the Charlie Hebdo newspaper, the attempt to seize a printing house and an attack on a kosher supermarket) once again demonstrated the threat of global terrorism and make the fight with crime committed on the grounds of religious and ethnic intolerance our number one task. The participants of the Congress believe that in order to counteract religious intolerance we should prevent the spread of extremism among young people with the help of necessary propaganda work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By Vestnik Kavkaza
The Sixth Congress of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia has ended in Moscow. The congress was attended by delegates from 180 Russian Jewish communities, as well as representatives of other traditional religions, foreign diplomats, statesmen and public figures, including the Israeli Ambassador to Russia, Dorit Golender, the Mufti of Moscow Albir Krganov and the chairman of the Synodal Department for Relations between the Church and Society of the ROC, Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin.
In an interview with Vestnik Kavkaza, Vsevolod Chaplin said: "It is very important that the event was attended by representatives of different religious traditions, statesmen, artists. This is a good example of how a private event centered on the life of the Jewish community in Russia is open to others at the same time. People talk about their own, as we say in the church, and common hope. They also talk about common challenges, we certainly have to talk about them today. People who want to preserve their religious lifestyle in everything, starting with their appearance and ending with their nutrition and observance of certain values, are currently facing major challenges. People try to tell them that they are old fashioned, that they have to change. In such circumstances, we need to be able to defend the values that religious people consider good, not because they are old, but because they are eternal."
Responding to a question about the contacts between representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church and the clergy of the South Caucasus, Chaplin said: "Despite the fact that until recently between Georgia and Russia relations were very difficult - even now they are still complicated - relations between the two churches of Georgia and Russia are very intense. Georgian bishops are coming to us, our pilgrims, bishops, priests are going to Georgia. With the Armenian church we are united doctrinally, but we maintain a very good relationship. We have one of the multinational quarters, a Muslim mosque has been built there, the Armenian Church was built much faster, by the way. And, of course, our communication with the Armenian Church and the Georgian church, our close friendship with the Spiritual Board of Muslims of Azerbaijan, headed by Sheikh-ul-Islam Haji Allahshukur Pashazadeh. All these are constants of interreligious cooperation of our church. This cooperation has been going on for many years. We supported it in the difficult Soviet times and now we are developing, we feel, in fact, long-term friends."
The Sixth Congress adopted a resolution "On counteracting terrorism and religious intolerance in the modern world." It states that "the terrorist attacks in Israel, the events in France in January 2015 (the attack on the Charlie Hebdo newspaper, the attempt to seize a printing house and an attack on a kosher supermarket) once again demonstrated the threat of global terrorism and make the fight with crime committed on the grounds of religious and ethnic intolerance our number one task. The participants of the Congress believe that in order to counteract religious intolerance we should prevent the spread of extremism among young people with the help of necessary propaganda work.