“In this place where we live, in Europe which is our home, we can open our arms to all if we all respect the common value of peaceful and harmonious coexistence with our fellow human beings”, Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs Miltiadis Varvitsiotis stressed, speaking today at an event themed: ‘Religion - Dialogue – Europe’, co-organized by the Holy Metropolis of Peristerion and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the framework of the Conference on the Future of Europe.
Mr. Varvitsiotis pointed out that although it may appear like our times are deeply materialistic religion is far from being an anachronism, because we cannot advance if we do not have firmly ingrained principles and values and do not give the fight for self-improvement on a daily basis.
The Alternate Minister noted that Christianity is one of the pillars on which modern Europe was built, and for that reason he emphasized that the voice of the Greek Orthodox Church and the other Churches operating in Greece cannot be omitted from the Conference on the Future of Europe.
In addition, he emphasized that the Christian character of Europe is not threatened by the arrival of millions of persecuted people from all over the world, the majority of whom practice different religions; rather, it is a pole of attraction for people of other religions, as its central tenets are love for one's fellow man, peaceful coexistence and respect for the beliefs of others. He referenced the flourishing Muslim minority of Thrace, which, he said, had 110,000 members in 1923 and has more than 200,000 today, as a successful European example of acceptance and peaceful coexistence of various religions in the context of Christian Europe.
Concluding his speech, Mr. Varvitsiotis stressed that every time we are faced with major crises and existential issues, it is the moment when we must return to our values and transform Christian Love into political practice, because otherwise there lurks the danger of populism and division. He pointed out that in Europe, which has experienced the horrendous crime of the Holocaust, religious identity can under no circumstances be an element of division.
In his speech, His Eminence Metropolitan of Peristerion and Professor of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Athens, Mr. Gregory, noted that, from a Christian perspective, the expression of religious faith in the public sphere cannot entail theocracy but rather participation in the consultations of the public realm and society and announced the establishment of an Institute of Ecclesiastical Canon Law and Church-State Relations in Greece and Europe within the framework of the Holy Metropolis of Peristerion.
Mr. Dimitris Nikolakakis, Professor of Theology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Ms Vassiliki Stathokosta, Assoc. Professor at the Department of Theology, University of Athens, Mr. Michaalis Marioros, Assoc. Professor University of Athens and Mr. Ioannis Panagiotopoulos, Assoc. Professor at the Department of Theology, University of Athens also addressed the event.
In attendance were also a number of clergy, including His Eminence Gabriel (Papanikolaou) Metropolitan of Nea Ionia, representing His Beatitude Archbishop Ieronymos II of Athens and All Greece, His Eminence Metropolitan Athenagoras of Ilion, Acharnes and Petroupolis, His Eminence Metropolitan Simeon of Fthiotida and His Eminence Archimandrite Spyridon, representing His Eminence Metropolitan Daniel of Kaisariani.
It is worth noting that representatives of other Orthodox churches and Christian denominations as well as other religions were also present. In particular, the Reverend Archimandrite Khoren Arakelyan, Metropolitan Overseer of the Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church in Greece, the Reverend Roman Catholic Archbishop of Athens, Theodoros Kontidis, and the Chief Rabbi of the Jewish Community of Athens, Gabriel Negrin.
The event was also attended by the Members of Parliament of the New Democracy Mr. Ioannis Loverdos, Mr. Panagiotis Kouroumblis of SYRIZA and Ms Maria Athanasiou of the Helleniki Lysi, while the Mayor of Haidari Mr. Evangelos Diniakos was also present.
The event was moderated by George Nokos, journalist of the "PARAPOLITIKA" newspaper.
July 5, 2022