Vision and work
Vision: The major religious communities in Europe cooperate effectively for peace and reconciliation, in Europe and beyond.
This vision grows out of the shared commitment of faith traditions to human dignity and the right to live in peace. On this basis religious leaders have committed themselves to work together in order to prevent conflict, promote peaceful coexistence and encourage their communities to do the same. European Council of Religious Leaders works on the basis of mutual respect and appreciation for religious diversity.
Based in the different religious traditions and Holy Books, the Council encourages a common moral responsibility for the prevention of conflict and the promotion of dialogue. Values that are deeply held and widely shared offer guidance to the work. In a continent where religion has often been seen as a source of conflict, the European Council of Religious Leaders seeks to be a resource for peace.
The ECRL aims at promoting inter-religious cooperation in Europe and beyond. The work of the Council includes annual council meetings, participation in conferences, delegation visits to conflict areas and maintaining contacts across religious boundaries.
The secretariat of the ECRL is situated in Oslo and the Moderator is Bishop Emeritus Gunnar Stålsett.
The European Council of Religious Leaders' Berlin Declaration on Interreligious Dialogue
As a guideline for the work of the Council and to spread knowledge of inter-religious dialogue, the ECRL, on its Council meeting in Berlin in 2008, issued a declaration:
- Preamble
- 2008 has been declared the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue. In a pluralistic Europe dialogue across dividing lines – be they cultural, linguistic or religious – is of the greatest importance. All over Europe issues related to identity are hotly debated, and often religion is at the centre of discussions. Europe and Europeans are also constantly interacting with the rest of the world, experiencing the joys and the challenges of communicating across cultural and religious divides.
- Sometimes religion is seen as an obstacle to peaceful coexistence and social cohesion. At the same time we know that some of the most pressing challenges in our time – climate change, poverty, migration, marginalisation of women, discrimination and terrorism – can only be solved if we unite resources across traditional dividing lines.
- 3 to 5 March 2008 the European Council of Religious Leaders – Religions for Peace met in Berlin, a city which symbolises a history of division in Europe as well as reconciliation and new beginnings. As religious leaders we support initiatives to further dialogue in this continent. In order to promote bold, responsible and well-informed interreligious dialogue on all levels of European society, we hereby offer the Berlin Declaration on Interreligious Dialogue:
- (1) Religion permeates Europe: Christianity, Islam and Judaism are part of European history. Today other great religious traditions have also found a place in the continent. In every town or village in Europe there is at least one house of worship: a Church, a Mosque or a Synagogue. To ensure a prosperous and harmonious future for Europe, people of different faiths must live peacefully together.
- (2) Interreligious dialogue emphasises both our similarities and our differences: In interreligious dialogue we acknowledge that human beings of all faiths share certain experiences, needs and longings. We also acknowledge that we are different from each other in many respects and will remain different. Our religious traditions have formed different social rules and models which sometimes contradict each other. One aim of interreligious dialogue is to reduce false perceptions of difference and culture gaps, while we respect that something about our dialogue partner will necessarily remain other (or even alien) to us.
- (3) Interreligious dialogue should promote respect for human rights: Interreligious dialogue should respect the shared values found within all great religious traditions and embodied within the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Commitment to human rights does not preclude a variety of world views or ethical systems and interpretations.
- (4) The invitation to the dialogue is open: The more we differ, the more we need dialogue. It is not a precondition for dialogue that we share a wide spectrum of values and ideas. Only clear breaches of respect for the most fundamental values, such as the right to life and the rule of law, should exclude people from being invited into dialogue. While the invitation is open, everyone must abide by the agreed rules of a particular dialoguing situation. Women and young people have important perspectives and contributions to offer and should have distinct voices in interreligious dialogue.
- (5) Interreligious dialogue is a mode of relating to other faiths and has a transforming potential: Interreligious dialogue is a particular way of interacting with others through which all who are involved can be transformed. Dialogue on issues of faith and identity is not negotiations, because we do not seek agreement, it is not debates, because we do not seek to win over the other, and it is more than a discussion because we contribute not only rational arguments but personal and emotive stories and experiences and thus engage existentially with each other.
- (6) Interreligious dialogue affirms the integrity of religious beliefs: In dialogue we come closer to each other without necessarily becoming more similar. All who engage in interreligious dialogue should do so with full integrity in their own religious tradition and without compromise to what they hold dear. In interreligious dialogue we do not aim at creating a new or shared religion.
- (7) Interreligious dialogue addresses asymmetric power relationships with honesty: The power relationship between different religious groups is sometimes asymmetric. This can be caused by for example poverty/wealth, language, gender or numbers (minority/majority). Interreligious dialogue must not be used to obscure this. In dialogue the facts and experiences of asymmetric power should be addressed, and mechanisms should be found to give voice to those who struggle to be heard.
- (8) Interreligious dialogue furthers stakeholdership and participation in society: Interreligious dialogue should address a wide spectrum of issues. It is important to explore shared values and address common concerns, but one should not shy away from addressing issues on which there are disagreement, uncertainty or even fear of the other. Some current trends, such as rapid development of new technology in biology, medicine and communication and changing understandings of family are closely linked to questions of values and identities. Religions do not agree on the responses to these questions, but should discuss these matters with openness and courage. Dialogue is not a means to a predefined end, but it is intrinsic to genuine dialogue that it furthers mutual understanding, respect for differences, and the participation and stakeholdership of all in society and thus strengthens social cohesion.
- (9) Interreligious dialogue leads to common action: A full understanding of interreligious dialogue includes common action – diapraxis. The dignity of human life, to which all religions are committed, is challenged for example through poverty, violence, abuse of women and children, discrimination of migrants and dramatic changes in the natural environment. Different religions can address these issues together, although our ethics may draw on different resources. Interreligious dialogue should aim at mustering the resources of varying religious traditions to take up the challenges which Europe faces today. Through common action we learn to understand better ourselves, each other, and the world in which we live.
- (10) Structures for interreligious cooperation are assets in times of crisis: Repeatedly religion plays a role in situations of conflict. Established and trustful structures for interreligious dialogue are a tremendous strength when relationships between communities deteriorate. Religious leaders must address dangerous and violent perversions of religion within their own communities.
- (11) Knowledge and confidence in a tradition further interreligious understanding: Open and trustful interreligious dialogue is furthered by a secure knowledge of one’s own religious tradition as well as that of others. This knowledge should be taught in a spirit of peace and respect for the different traditions. Many religions make truth claims that are mutually exclusive. This is no more an impediment to dialogue and the full participation in society than the explicit or implicit truth claims of secular ideologies. Dialogue between religions, cultures and social groups is often dialogue across opposing truth claims and world views.
- (12) Religion has a natural place also in the public sphere: Religion continues to have an important role to play in the public life of a Europe with many religions. This applies to minorities and majorities alike. The public display of religious symbols or celebration of religious festivals should neither be seen as offensive to other religions nor as a threat to social cohesion. Religious minorities in Europe generally do not feel offended by for example public Christmas or Easter celebrations in countries where this is a tradition as long as their own freedom of religion is respected.
- (13) Religious leaders, religious people and the authorities share responsibility for interreligious dialogue: Convinced that interreligious dialogue is important for a peaceful and prosperous Europe we call on religious leaders of all religious traditions and in every corner of Europe to join in interreligious dialogue based on the principles outlined in this declaration. We call on all religious people in Europe to enter into the most important dialogue of all, “the dialogue of life”, in the local community, in families and workplaces with confidence and courage. We call on the authorities on local, national and European level to engage constructively with religious communities in mutual respect for each other’s different roles, and to create frameworks within which religious practices and interreligious dialogue based on the principles in this declaration may be further developed and prosper for the benefit of peaceful coexistence in Europe.
Nostra aetate, or the Declaration on the Relation of the Church with Non-Christian Religions, is an official declaration of the Second Vatican Council. Passed by a vote of 2,221 to 88 of the assembled bishops, this declaration was promulgated on 28 October 1965 by Pope Paul VI. Its name comes from its the incipit.
The Reverend is an honorific style given before the names of certain Christian clergy and ministers. There are sometimes differences in the way the style is used in different countries and church traditions. The Reverend is correctly called a style, but is sometimes referred to as a title, form of address, or title of respect. The style is also sometimes used by leaders in other religions such as Judaism and Buddhism.
Religious pluralism is a set of religious world views that hold that one's religion is not the sole and exclusive source of truth, and thus recognizes that some level of truth and value exists in other religions. As such, religious pluralism goes beyond religious tolerance, which is the condition of peaceful existence between adherents of different religions or religious denominations.
Christian−Jewish reconciliation refers to the efforts that are being made to improve understanding and acceptance between Christians and Jews. There has been significant progress in reconciliation in recent years, in particular by the Catholic Church, but also by other Christian groups.
Interfaith dialogue refers to cooperative, constructive, and positive interaction between people of different religious traditions and/or spiritual or humanistic beliefs, at both the individual and institutional levels. It is distinct from syncretism or alternative religion, in that dialogue often involves promoting understanding between different religions or beliefs to increase acceptance of others, rather than to synthesize new beliefs.
In the English language, an honorific is a form of address conveying esteem, courtesy or respect. These can be titles prefixing a person's name, e.g.: Mr, Mrs, Miss, Ms, Mx,Sir, Dame, Dr, Cllr, Lady or Lord, or titles or positions that can appear as a form of address without the person's name, as in Mr President, General, Captain, Father, Doctor or Earl.
The Catholic Church and Judaism have a long and complex history of cooperation and conflict, and have had a strained relationship throughout history, with periods of persecution, violence and discrimination directed towards Jews by Christians, particularly during the Middle Ages.
The Niwano Peace Prize is given to honor and encourage those devoting themselves to interreligious co-operation in the cause of peace and to make their achievements known. Its foundation hopes that the prize will further promote interreligious co-operation for peace and lead to the emergence of more people devoting themselves to this cause.
The Council of Christians and Jews (CCJ) is a voluntary organisation in the United Kingdom. It is composed of Christians and Jews working together to counter anti-semitism and other forms of intolerance in Britain. Their patron was Queen Elizabeth II.
David Shlomo Rosen KSG CBE is the former Chief Rabbi of Ireland (1979–1985) and currently serves as the American Jewish Committee's International Director of Interreligious Affairs. From 2005 until 2009 he headed the International Jewish Committee for Inter-religious Consultations (IJCIC), the broad-based coalition of Jewish organizations and denominations that represents World Jewry in its relations with other world religions.
The World Congress of Imams and Rabbis for Peace "brings together Imams and Rabbis who formally seek to initiate rapprochement between Judaism and Islam".
The International Council of Christians and Jews (ICCJ) is an umbrella organization of 38 national groups in 32 countries worldwide engaged in the Christian-Jewish dialogue.
The Alexandria Process is a process of active dialogue between religious leaders in the Holy Land to build understanding and work towards peace.
The Jordanian Interfaith Coexistence Research Center is a non-governmental organization for promoting peaceful religious coexistence based out of Amman, Jordan. It focuses on fostering interfaith dialogue on a grassroots level and creating interreligious harmony. The JICRC is currently run by its founder and director, Father Nabil Haddad.
Muhammad bin Abdul Karim Issa is a Saudi Arabian politician, Secretary General of the Muslim World League, President of the International Islamic Halal Organization, and former Saudi Minister of Justice.
The King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz International Centre for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue, mostly referred to as "International Dialogue Centre" and globally known by its abbreviation, KAICIID, is an inter-governmental organization that promotes interreligious and intercultural dialogue to prevent and resolve conflict. It was established in Vienna, Austria, but relocated to Lisbon, Portugal on 1 July 2022. KAICIID was opened in 2012 by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Republic of Austria and the Kingdom of Spain, following the initiative of Pope Benedict XVI and King Abdullah of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia who met in 2007 to discuss the founding of a new interfaith activity. The Holy See is a founding observer. The centre and its mission have been endorsed by many religious leaders and high-level politicians, including the Viennese Community Rabbi Schlomo Hofmeister
The John Paul II Center for Interreligious Dialogue is an academic center that serves to build bridges between religious traditions, particularly between Catholic Christian and Jewish pastoral and academic leaders. The Center is a partnership between the Russell Berrie Foundation and the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum). It operates as part of the Section for Ecumenism and Dialogue in the Theology Faculty of the Angelicum in Rome.
The Interreligious Coordinating Council in Israel (ICCI) was founded in 1991 to further understanding and communication between members of different faith communities and to build foundations for lasting fellowship.
"Our mission is to harness the teachings and values of the three Abrahamic faiths and transform religion's role from a force of division and extremism into a source of reconciliation, coexistence and understanding for the leaders and followers of these religions in Israel and in our region."
Pope Francis has had main contacts with those of other Christian faiths, with those of other religious beliefs, and with non-believers.
The Millennium Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders was held in New York City between August 28–31, 2000. The meeting recognized the importance of religion to world peace and faith leaders’ commitment to peacekeeping, poverty relief, and environmental conservation. It preceded the Millennium Summit, which commemorated the 50th anniversary of the United Nations (UN).
