SPIRITUAL LEADERS SPEAK IN FAVOR OF PEACEFUL SETTLEMENT OF PROBLEMS
ITAR-TASS
November 29, 2011 Tuesday 04:36 PM GMT+4
Russia
Spiritual leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church, the Armenian
Apostolic Church and the chairman of the Spiritual Board of Muslims
“speak firmly in favor of the settlement of the existing problems
solely, peacefully and legally,” their statement said on Tuesday.
The statement was made by Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia,
Head of the Armenian Apostolic Church Catholicos Garegin II and Sheikh
Allashukyur Pasha-zade, chairman of the Spiritual Board of Muslims.
They met in Yerevan on Monday within the framework of a session of
the Presidium of the CIS Interreligious Council.
“Today we have got together once again to find ways to help settle
conflicts and build a just peace in the Caucasus,” participants in the
session said. “Continuing the tradition of previous meetings, we once
again confirm that work of the clergy and believers can have a direct
favorable influence on the situation in our region,” they stressed.
“Unfortunately, many peoples of the region are still divided by
hostility and mistrust,” the spiritual leaders stated. “We all face
the aftermath of conflicts that have not been settled to the end.
Political radicals and other destructive forces try to use national
and religious differences to justify their statements and deeds,
drastically alien to religious traditions,” they said.
They urged “politicians to give a new impetus to a dialogue aimed
at the settlement of differences that stand in the way to a lasting
peace in the Caucasus” and stated their readiness to take most active
part in that process.
In the document circulated on Tuesday, they stressed a need “to
contribute to integration processes on the whole post-Soviet space,
aimed at all layers of the society, including national minorities”.
They are confident that “it is necessary to take care of refugees
and forced refugees”.
They believe that “media, particularly electronic media, don’t do
enough to support interreligious and inter-ethnic cooperation”.
“We testify that meetings of spiritual leaders of our countries have
contributed to a great degree not only to ending an armed stage of
conflicts, but have also prevented these conflicts from transforming
into inter-ethnic confrontation,” the document said.
The participants in the meeting came out in favor of continuing
mediatory efforts towards a peaceful settlement of the Karabakh
conflict on the basis of international law within the framework of
the OSCE Minsk Group. “The process of a peaceful settlement of the
conflict demands constant efforts towards strengthening the ceasefire
regime and confidence-building measures,” they said.
The CIS Inter-Religious Council is a public organisation, which
involves the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Buddhist Sangha,
the Georgian Orthodox Church, the spiritual boards of Muslims of
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, the Congress of
Jewish Religious Organisations, the Coordinating Centre of Muslims
of the North Caucasus, the Russian Orthodox Church, the Council of
Muftis of Russia, the Board of Muslims of the Caucasus, the Federation
of CIS Jewish Communities and the Central Spiritual Board of Muslims
of Russia.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Disclaimer: This article was contributed and translated into English by Emil Lazarian. While we strive for quality, the views and accuracy of the content remain the responsibility of the contributor. Please verify all facts independently before reposting or citing.
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