An Orthodox-Catholic conference "Giving Europe a soul. Mission and responsibility of the Churches" was held in Vienna

From May 3 to May 5, the Orthodox-Catholic conference “Giving Europe a Soul. Mission and Responsibility of the Churches” was held in Vienna. It was organized by the Pontifical Council for Culture and the DECR MP with the support of the Pro Oriente Foundation.

The forum was attended by the head of the Council, Cardinal Paul Poupart, the President of the European Society of Culture, Professor Vincenzo Capiletti, the honorary director of L'Ecole du Louvre Dominique Ponneau, the director of the Moscow cultural and educational center "Spiritual Library" Jean-François Thiry, the chairman of the DECR, Metropolitan of Smolensk and Kaliningrad Kirill, his deputy Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, head of the ROC representative office at European international organizations in Brussels, Bishop of Vienna and Austria Hilarion (Alfeev), representative of the ROC in Strasbourg, Hegumen Filaret (Bulekov), head of the LNG Valentin Lebedev, executive editor of the Church Bulletin Sergei Chapnin, Rector of PSTGU Archpriest Vladimir Vorobyov, Chairman of the Union of Writers of Russia Valery Ganichev, Director of the Institute of Synergetic Anthropology, philosopher Sergei Khoruzhy, Editor-in-Chief of the magazine "Foma" Vladimir Legoyda, etc.

The conference participants spoke about the need to preserve and consolidate in the public life of Europe the moral values ​​that underlie both the Catholic and Orthodox traditions, and called for the united efforts of Catholics and Orthodox Christians in opposing secularism and, as Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin put it, the danger of “new liberal totalitarianism” .

Naturally, the issue of human rights was also raised. Metropolitan Kirill in his speech referred tothe Declaration on the Rights and Dignity of Man adopted by the X World Russian People's Council and emphasized that this document does not at all affirm a special Orthodox interpretation of rights, opposite to the Western one: “The task was to give a Christian interpretation to the fundamental categories , which today drive world politics: human rights and his freedoms. We tried to put a theological basis under the concept of human rights and thereby connect, or better yet, reunite this concept with traditional Christian views. "We tried to show the Christian roots of the concept of human rights."

The result of the conference was a message to believers of the Roman Catholic Church and local Orthodox churches, representatives of other religious traditions, political and public figures of European countries.

Sources

• An Orthodox-Catholic conference dedicated to the mission of the Churches in preserving the Christian heritage of Europe opened in Vienna // Blagovest-info. 2006. May 3.
• Opening speech by Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad at the European meeting on Christian culture “Give soul to Europe. Mission and responsibility of the Churches” // Interfax-religion. 2006. May 3.
• Vasilenko K. Spiritual defenders: Metropolitan Kirill introduced Catholics to the Orthodox Declaration of Human Rights and Dignities // Time of News. 2006. May 4.
• It is possible to revive Christianity in Europe through a return to the Christian system of values ​​- Metropolitan Kirill // Interfax-religion. 2006. May 4.
• A representative of the Moscow Patriarchate warns about the danger of “liberal totalitarianism”, fraught with a “nuclear war of civilizations” // Ibid. May 5.
• The modern concept of human rights needs a return to Christian roots // Ibid. (Interview with Cardinal Paul Poupart.)
• The representative of the Moscow Patriarchate in Strasbourg thanks his colleague from the Vatican for his respectful attitude towards the position of the Russian Church // Ibid.
• Active and strong souls seek spiritual achievement, not compromise, Archpriest Vladimir Vorobyov is convinced // Blagovest-info. 2006. May 5.
• The crisis in human understanding can be resolved through turning to the experience of Christian asceticism - Sergei Khoruzhy’s report at the conference “Give Europe a Soul” // Ibid.
• Maltster S. Dobrodeev and Ernst will teach everyone Orthodoxy // Daily Journal. 2006. May 11.