On November 4-5, the international interreligious conference «Addis Ababa Declaration on Tolerance, Citizenship and Peace» was held in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa. The forum was organized by the Ethiopian Ministry of Peace and Mohammad Bin Zayed Humanitarian University (UAE), with the participation of the Ethiopian Interreligious Council.
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The event is being attended by more than 100 delegates from Ethiopia, other African and Middle Eastern countries, — leaders and representatives of Christian, Islamic and Jewish communities, diplomats, academics and government officials.
With the blessing of the chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk, the secretary of the Russian Orthodox Church's Department for Interreligious Relations, the executive secretary of the Interreligious Council of Russia, priest Ilia Kashitsyn, and priest Alexander Kosykh, rector of the Church of the Intercession of the Most Holy Mother of God. Among the guests of the forum were Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to Ethiopia E.E. Terekhin and representatives of the Russian Embassy and Russian House in Ethiopia.
For the participants President of the Federal Republic of Ethiopia Taye Atske-Selassie, Ethiopian Minister of Peace Binalf Ashenef, President of the Federal Republic of Ethiopia Dr. Khalifa Mubarak Ad-Daheri, Chief Mufti of Ethiopia Sheikh Ibrahim Haji Tufa, Rector of the Mohammad Bin Zayed University of Humanities Dr. Khalifa Mubarak Ad-Daheri, Head of the Supreme Mufti of Ethiopia Sheikh Ibrahim Haji Tufa, Dr. Khalifa Mubarak Al-Daheri, Rector of Mohammad Bin Zayed University for the Humanities, Sheikh Ibrahim Haji Tufa, Supreme Mufti of Ethiopia, Cardinal Birhan Jesús Surafel, Head of the Bishops' Conference of Ethiopia, Bishop Gregory, representative of the Ethiopian Church in the Interreligious Council of Ethiopia, Head of the Department of External Relations of the Ethiopian Church, member of the Expert Council on Higher Education of the Ethiopian Patriarchate, Secretary of the Commission on Dialogue between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Ethiopian Church, Priest Daniel Seifemichael, Secretary General of the Interreligious Council of Ethiopia Teguan Tagay Tadele, Advisor to the Rector of Zayed University Dr. Karima Al-Mazrui, Head of the Jewish Center of South Africa Umhlanga Rabbi George Friedman, other religious leaders.
A photo exhibition about the life of religious communities in Ethiopia was organized on the margins of the event. The conference also included a signing ceremony of a memorandum of cooperation between the Ethiopian Ministry of Peace and Zayed University. At the end of the forum the final declaration was adopted, calling for mutual respect and equal cooperation between religions and peoples, defining tolerance and freedom of religion as key pillars of building a lasting civil peace, affirming the need for constant interreligious dialog. The Secretary of the Interreligious Council of Russia was invited to participate in the ceremony of adoption of the document. On the margins of the forum and the cultural program, Priest Ilia Kashchitsyn answered questions from a number of Ethiopian media.
At the end of the forum the organizers gave a festive dinner for the guests. During the dinner, on the initiative of representatives of Mohammad Bin Zayed Humanitarian University, negotiations were held with representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church on cooperation to promote the ideas of interreligious dialogue and peace, strengthening relations between the Moscow Patriarchate and Muslim organizations in the UAE.
At the end of the forum, the organizers hosted a gala dinner for the guests.
EOCS Communication Service/Patriarchy.ru
