CENTRE for RELIGIOUS PLURALISM in the MIDDLE EAST

Το KAICIID είναι ένας διακυβερνητικός οργανισμός, που στόχο έχει την προώθηση του διαλόγου ως μέσο για την αποτροπή και επίλυση συγκρούσεων.

Secretary-General's message to International Conference on Religious and Cultural Pluralism and Peaceful Co-existence in the Middle East [Delivered by Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria Staffan de Mistura]

Athens, Greece, 18 October 2015

I was one of the many Muslim scholars and other faiths leaders invited to a major summit of its kind in Morocco to debate the rights of religious minorities living in the Muslim world. The summit opened on 25 January and brought together 300 influential thinkers from across the globe to reassert the principles stipulated by the Charter of Medina. The Charter is the first constitution for Muslims which enshrines the principles of tolerance, co-existence and pluralism.

The Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research hosted, on Sunday and Monday, January 17-18, 2016, the proceedings of " First Arab Thinkers Forum," at its premises in Abu Dhabi. A large group of Arab intellectuals participated, including, notably, H.E. Dr. Jamal Sanad Al-Suwaidi, Director General of the ECSSR, and a number of Muslim and Christian religious figures, including H.E. Dr. Mohammed Mokhtar Gomaa, Minister of Religious Endowments (Awqaf), Head

Father Miguel Angel Ayuso Guixot, the Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, on Sunday said “to counter extremism we have to commit ourselves to a sincere dialogue.”

Next Sunday, some 80 mosques will invite the public in to counter negative stereotypes about Britain's Muslim minority.

The 14th edition of the International Festival of Language and Culture, formerly known as the International Turkish Language Olympiad, kicked off with a spectacular ceremony held in Manila, the capital city of the Philippines.

The group is highlighting the, often forgotten, stories of Muslims who helped Jews during one of history’s deadliest genocides.

Jonathan Sacks, former Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth, discusses root causes of religious violence and the transformative power of interfaith understanding for resolving conflict.

Event marking restoration of 167 Jewish graveyards in Morocco also marks need for respect, tolerance, and appreciation of all religions.

More than 90 mosques across the UK have opened their doors to visitors to allow Muslims to "explain their faith beyond the hostile headlines".

Much present-day interfaith and intercultural dialogue stems from the culture of globalization, as communities encounter each other and differences emerge on the international stage. But dialogue that truly means something demands radical changes in the mindsets of some of the societies that participate. The first essential change is to adopt the capacity to accept divergent views. “Acceptance” differs from “tolerance”, because becoming familiar with the other does not entail judging the

Pope Francis's dynamic papacy has been one of many firsts, the latest being the monumental meeting in Havana on February 12 with Russian Orthodox patriarch Kirill. A convergence of Francis's great emphasis on ecumenism with the geo-religious context of virulent persecution of Christians, both Orthodox and Catholic in Syria, and throughout the Middle East and North Africa have resulted in the unprecedented meeting in Cuba. The systematic slaughter of Christians at the hands of IS and