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Ekklesia, UK
June 8 2005
Religions called to honesty, peace and common action -08/06/05
In the face of religiously motivated conflict and division, the need
for the world's religions to undertake a "critical and realistic self
assessment" while making "overcoming violence in all its forms" an
"urgent priority" was stressed by the World Council of Churches'
(WCC) moderator, Catholicos Aram I, speaking in Geneva today.
His Holiness Aram I is head of the See of Cilicia of the Armenian
Apostolic Church (Antelias, Lebanon) and has been moderator of the
WCC Central Committee since 1991.
In a keynote speech opening the WCC-sponsored 'Critical moment in
interreligious dialogue' conference being held at the Geneva
Ecumenical Centre from 7-9 June 2005, Aram I emphasized that dialogue
alone is not enough.
Religious communities are called to work together in order to move
towards common action, he said. Moreover, in the midst of the "moral
vacuum" of today's globalized world, this active cooperation must be
grounded in common values.
"Values, not interests, must be the guiding principles of
interreligious collaboration", Catholicos Aram I stressed.
The programme of religions' common action starts by promoting mutual
understanding and building peace with justice. While recognizing that
they have always had their "own share in the emergence of the culture
of violence," and needed to deal with that, religions must firmly
commit themselves "to peace and non-violence," he emphasized.
The need for common action was also stressed by WCC general secretary
the Rev Dr Samuel Kobia in welcoming the 130 conference participants
from ten world religions.
After almost 35 years of involvement in dialogue, the Council has
"come to realize the interreligious truth of an old ecumenical
principle: that which we can do together we should not do
separately," he said.
Kobia also emphasized that, as a consequence, "interreligious
relations and dialogue should no longer be at the margin of the WCC
but at its centre. It has become a core issue for us and this
conference is one way of saying it".
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
June 8 2005
Religions called to honesty, peace and common action -08/06/05
In the face of religiously motivated conflict and division, the need
for the world's religions to undertake a "critical and realistic self
assessment" while making "overcoming violence in all its forms" an
"urgent priority" was stressed by the World Council of Churches'
(WCC) moderator, Catholicos Aram I, speaking in Geneva today.
His Holiness Aram I is head of the See of Cilicia of the Armenian
Apostolic Church (Antelias, Lebanon) and has been moderator of the
WCC Central Committee since 1991.
In a keynote speech opening the WCC-sponsored 'Critical moment in
interreligious dialogue' conference being held at the Geneva
Ecumenical Centre from 7-9 June 2005, Aram I emphasized that dialogue
alone is not enough.
Religious communities are called to work together in order to move
towards common action, he said. Moreover, in the midst of the "moral
vacuum" of today's globalized world, this active cooperation must be
grounded in common values.
"Values, not interests, must be the guiding principles of
interreligious collaboration", Catholicos Aram I stressed.
The programme of religions' common action starts by promoting mutual
understanding and building peace with justice. While recognizing that
they have always had their "own share in the emergence of the culture
of violence," and needed to deal with that, religions must firmly
commit themselves "to peace and non-violence," he emphasized.
The need for common action was also stressed by WCC general secretary
the Rev Dr Samuel Kobia in welcoming the 130 conference participants
from ten world religions.
After almost 35 years of involvement in dialogue, the Council has
"come to realize the interreligious truth of an old ecumenical
principle: that which we can do together we should not do
separately," he said.
Kobia also emphasized that, as a consequence, "interreligious
relations and dialogue should no longer be at the margin of the WCC
but at its centre. It has become a core issue for us and this
conference is one way of saying it".
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress