Moscow religious summit condemns terror, defends life
(06 July 2006) : An inter-religious "summit meeting" held in Moscow from 3rd to 5th July concluded Thursday, with more than 200 religious leaders from world’s various religions, issuing a strongly worded joint statement that condemns terrorism, urges protection for human life and for the family, and insist on respect for religious freedom. The meeting was organised by the Russian Orthodox Church in Moscow. The world religious leaders want to use religion as a foundation for peace and dialogue between civilisations rather than as a source of conflicts. The religious leaders issued a joint statement which underlined the essential role played by education and communication in preventing the spread of extremist ideas. It said that “school, mass media, and preaching by religious leaders should return to our contemporaries the full knowledge of their religious traditions”. Their message also stressed the need for an international economic order based on justice and morality. A “life lived only for financial profit and facilitating production progress becomes barren and meager. Being aware of this, we call on the business community to be open and responsible towards the civil society”, the statement said. The summit’s final document will be sent to G8 leaders whose annual meeting is scheduled for mid-July in Saint-Petersburg, Russia.
The delegation invited by Moscow to represent the Catholic Church included Cardinal Walter Kasper, head of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, and Cardinal Paul Poupard, head of the pontifical councils for Culture and for Interreligious Dialogue; U.S. Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, retired archbishop of Washington; French Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, former president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace; Belgian Cardinal Godfried Danneels of Mechelen-Brussels; Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin, Ireland; and Bishop Joseph Werth of the Novosibirsk-based Transfiguration Diocese, president of the Russian bishops' conference.
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