Promoting Peaceful Coexistence and Common Citizenship

[ 15 ] Our own personal response to these challenges is love, ἀγάπη. It has been recommended in the past that tolerance — tolerating each other — could help us achieve a peaceful coexistence and a common citizenship. But our conviction is that to merely bear one another emphasizes the perva- sive goal of dominance. If one must tolerate another, the one being tolerated is viewed as less valuable than the one who tolerates. This is a great deception. We must move beyond tolerance to love. Love is much more than tolerance. When we embrace and welcome the Other with genuine concern and love — as if the Other is our very own neighbour — we have the foundation for creating lasting peace in the world. The Greek word for solidarity is ἀλληλεγγύη—coming close and becoming a neighbour to the Other. This is the essential message of the parable of the Good Samaritan; the reply that Jesus Christ gave to the question: “Who is my neighbour?” (Luke 10:29). Christ implied that, rather than asking who our neighbour is, we should instead become the neighbour to the Other (Luke 10: 37–38). When neighbours join together to seek the benefit of the Other, we begin to live in solidarity. This is the seed for broader, universal solidarity. Love surpasses human capacity. It is a divine gift. There- fore, we strongly believe that to achieve it demands much more than our human, spontaneous response. It requires something much more than our simple will to follow God’s invitation. It implies a lifelong and continuous response, a commitment through faith, prayer, and spiritual struggle. In other words, through religion. It is our deep conviction that the contribution of reli- gion is crucial to overcoming the worldwide crisis, given that religion is a great spiritual power deeply rooted in the human soul, affecting human minds and hearts, and granting spiritual orientation — a power that fosters, pre- serves and promotes high values, wisdom and peace. All of these qualities risk becoming lost through the increase of secularism, atheism and materialism, and also through the outburst of religious fundamentalism and violence in the name of God, which is the negation of the essence of authentic religious belief, and a dehumanizing principle. Fundamentalism definitely does not belong to the essence of religion, but rather “constitutes an expression of morbid religiosity” (Encyclical of the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church, par. 17). Consequently, religions must stand together before the increasing secularism and fundamentalism. This goal is supported and promoted through dialogue. Dialogue is a gesture of solidarity. Interreligious dialogue does not mean a relativization of our own faith nor the weakening or even denial of our own religious identity, but rather it enriches identities and profoundly leads to a change of mindset and attitude towards the Other. It can heal prejudices and pro- mote a spirit of solidarity and peace. In this sense, uniting people and bringing them closer, promotes the spiritual foundation of common citizenship and peaceful coexist- ence in the world. According to the Christian perspective, a human being is not only a “citizen of the world” but is also called to be a citizen of heaven (οὐρανοπολίτης) — for only then is the human being’s innate thirst for eternity quenched. Far from diminishing our desire to strive for a better world, this call for eternal life effectively strengthens our capacity and will to work alongside us for dignity and peace on earth. Therefore, our beloved, we beseech Almighty God to guide our deliberations and grant us wisdom to respond in creative ways with which we can save lives and promote freedom while moving human beings closer to each other and humanity closer to peace and solidarity. It is our prayer that God will allow us to see with His eyes our fellow human being — to see Him in our neighbour. May our Lord reward our efforts with a lasting peace and justice on earth and give us the peace from above which surpasses all understanding We thank God and we thank you. His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew Archbishop of Constantinople After completing undergraduate studies at the Theological School of Halki, Istanbul, His All-Holiness pursued graduate studies at the Pontifical Oriental Institute of the Gregorian University in Rome, the Ecumenical Institute in Bossey, Switzerland, and the University of Munich. His doctoral dissertation was in the field of Canon Law, and he was one of the founders of the Society of Canon Law of the Oriental Churches. Appointed to the diaconate in 1961 and to the priesthood in 1969, he served as Assistant Dean at the Theological School of Halki (1968–72) before becoming Personal Secretary to his predecessor, the late Ecumenical Patriarch Demetrios (1972–90). In 1973 he was elected Metropolitan of Philadelphia and, later in 1990, Metropolitan of Chalcedon. — OPENING CEREMONY —