WELCOME BY MR MEVLÜT ÇAVUŞOĞLU,

PRESIDENT OF THE PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY,

TO RELIGIOUS PERSONALITIES

(Strasbourg, Tuesday 12 April 2011, 10H15)

Colleagues,

The religions are founded on tolerance, compassion and respect for human dignity. They make an invaluable contribution to promoting respect and mutual understanding between peoples, strengthening solidarity between individuals and communities, as well as reinforcing social cohesion. Most importantly, they play an important role in promoting the fundamental values on which our societies are based - the values that make up the environment in which inter-cultural dialogue can flourish.

Therefore, we are deeply honoured by the presence among us today of five religious personalities whose great contribution to promoting inter-cultural dialogue is well known.

•       Your Beatitude Patriarch Daniel, your background is truly a multi-cultural one, as you have studied theology in Romania, in France (in Strasbourg) and in Germany (in Freiburg). This multicultural experience will, I am sure, make your contribution to our discussion most interesting.

•       Your Eminence, Cardinal Tauran, you represent the Holy See in many different countries all over the world as well as in international organisations. We greatly value your knowledge of diversity and diplomatic experience of consensus-building.

•       Chief Rabbi Lazar, you took up the position of Rabbi in Russia in 1990, when the country was undergoing enormous transformations from religious nihilism and communist authoritarian rule to a modern and diverse society, based on non-discrimination and mutual respect. I am sure your thoughts and ideas, based on your personal experience, will greatly enrich our debate.

•       Dr Görmez, you represent the religious authorities of Turkey – the European country where the highest number of Muslim communities live. It is also a country where Muslim traditions coexist with many other religious identities. Therefore, your experience of managing diversity will be most interesting to the members of the Assembly.

•       Dr Felmberg, you are not only a religious personality, but also a great diplomat representing the Council of the Evangelical Church of Germany at the European Union. I am sure that your contribution will help us learn from the best practices of inter-action with religious communities in the Europe of 27, so that we can replicate them in a wider Europe of 47 member states.

I shall now give the floor to our honourable guests, so that they can share with us their thoughts and ideas on the religious dimension of intercultural dialogue, as well as on the report we are currently debating.

Your Beatitude, you have the floor.