Religious leaders of Albania sign historic “Statement of Shared Moral Commitment”
May 30th, 2005 by sfuqua
In a beautiful statement, religious leaders in Albania — one of the
poorest nations in Europe, and one of the last released from Communism
— proclaim the importance of religious harmony and shared values while
carefully enunciated their own distinctness. The preservation of the belief
in uniqueness of one's own religion is one of the most difficult public
relations issues faced by the interfaith movement. Here we have an amazing
model of how to achieve this while emphasizing the need for cooperation.
"Let us treat others as we would wish them to treat us."
Dr. William Vendley
Secretary General, Religions for Peace
March 2005
The religious leaders from the Albanian Islamic Community, Orthodox
Church, Roman Catholic Church and Bektashi Community signed an historic
“Statement of Shared Moral Commitment” on March 18, 2005. These
religious leaders of Albania, whose communities endured great suffering
during the Cold War, jointly acknowledged their diverse faith traditions,
affirmed their shared moral values, and committed themselves to work together
to promote a vibrant civil society in Albania. They also called upon the
relevant national authorities to protect religious freedom.
During the signing ceremony moderated by the World Conference of Religions
for Peace and attended by leading national figures and representatives of
many foreign embassies, the Statement was presented by the religious leaders
to the Albanian peoples. The religious leaders pledged to work together on
the development of civil society and the growth of religious freedom. During
the ceremony, The Prime Minister of Albania, H. E. Fatos Nano, declared his
support for the multi-religious initiative, stating that “these
religious leaders are far more important (to Albania) than any political
officer.”
The event marked an important step in a year long process facilitated by
Religions for Peace designed to support the leadership of the heads of the
Albanian religious communities. Speaking on behalf of the Albanian religious
leaders, the Orthodox Archbishop Anastasios expressed appreciation for the
partnership with Religions for Peace, noting the complementary strengths of
multi-religious cooperation on national, regional and international levels.
Religions for Peace, the world’s largest multi-religious organization,
has worked to facilitate the formation of action-oriented multi-religious
councils throughout Southeast Europe. In November 2004, the European Council
of Religions for Peace convened a major meeting in Brussels of Southeast
European religious leaders around the topic of religious harmony in the
region.
STATEMENT OF SHARED MORAL COMMITMENT
18 March, 2005
- In view of the long, peaceful and fruitful co-existence of traditional
religious communities in Albania; - Bearing in mind that after a common suffering of almost 50-years of
total prohibition of faith and religious institutions, the values and ideas
of our faith traditions could survive thanks to enormous sacrifice; - Recognising that, with gratitude to God, the period of repression is
behind us and religious life can once again blossom in Albania in its
various forms and retake its hereditary place in a democratic society; - But at the same time, recognizing the reality of religious disharmony
in ethnic, social and political conflicts in many parts of the world and
even within our region;
We, the traditional religious communities in Albania: the Muslim
Community, the Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania (Orthodox Church),
the Catholic Church, and the Bektashi Community, feel called upon to point
the way to the future and have made the decision to release the following
joint statement.
We recognize and accept that our religious communities differ from each
other, and that each of us feels called to observe their own faith. At
the same time, we recognize that our religious and spiritual traditions hold
many values in common, and that these shared values can serve as an authentic
basis for mutual esteem, cooperation, and free common living throughout the
territory of Albania.
We, the Muslim Community, the Orthodox Church, the Catholic Church, and
the Bektashi Community are proud of our history of multi-religious
co-existence in Albania. We proclaim that the dignity of the human person and
human value is a gift of God. Our faiths, each in their own way, call us to
respect each person’s fundamental human rights. Discrimination and
violence against persons or the violation of their basic rights, for us,
breaks not only man-made laws, but also God’s law.
As representatives of the respective religious communities we express our
conviction that, after rebuilding our religious communities, we have now
entered into a new phase of challenges. These challenges require us to
strengthen and renew our efforts to promote the traditionally good relations
as well as dialogue and cooperation among ourselves, while also enhancing the
role of our religious communities as important institutions in our society.
With this statement we pledge the following:
- We will continue to commit ourselves to pray for and to promote
tolerance, coexistence, and peace both within our own communities and for
the entire Albanian society. We also pledge ourselves to continue the
promotion of a “climate of peace” within our communities by
stressing to our own officials that preaching must not cause religious
hatred;We will continue to educate all persons to understand and respect
our different faith traditions in order to prevent ignorance and fear from
fuelling discrimination and violence. To this end, we must ensure that
school curriculum and textbooks treat each religious tradition in an equal
and open manner;We will continue to be open to cooperation with other civic
and social organizations to carry out common activities for which we share
a common concern; - We will continue to cooperate through reciprocal meetings to maintain
and promote inter-religious understanding in Albania and in the
region; - We will continue to pledge ourselves to find the means to provide
assistance for all those who suffer in our society;
Further, we, the Muslim Community, the Orthodox Church, the Catholic
Church, and the Bektashi Community call on civil authorities at the local and
state level:
- To protect the freedom of all authorized representatives or religious
leaders to fulfil their mission; - To protect the traditional religious communities from any person or
group (within or outside the community) who tries to misuse the name and/or
property, seals, and symbols of a religious community. In such cases we
believe it is necessary that the state, under the rule of law, firmly
intervenes in favour of the welfare of these communities; - To provide support for the development of a strong civil society
through adopting appropriate laws, financial regulations, and other
policies that will promote the necessary environment for religious
communities and other civic organizations to thrive; - To furthermore promote and practice democracy, human rights and rule of
law; - To work towards a resolution on the legal status of religious
communities and on the restitution of property of religious communities
that was nationalized or expropriated in the past; - To develop media practices that do not promote division, mistrust and
hostility among peoples, but can contribute to the building of a healthy
democratic society. In this context we also call on the media to be fair
and respectful in their coverage of religious topics;
Finally, we call on the entire Albanian society to return once again to
the values of faith, protection of life, and human dignity. Let us treat
others as we would wish them to treat us.
H. Selim Muca
Muslim Community of Albania
Archbishop of Tirana Durres, Elbasan & All
Albania
Prof. Dr. Anastasios
Orthodox Autocephalous
Church of Albania
H.E. Mons. Rrok Mirdita
Catholic Church
H.D. Reshat Bardhi
Bektashi Community
of Albania
