Interreligious dialogue

Great War: peace message signed by representatives of religious denominations in Belgrade (Serbia). “Never again must Europe be a breeding ground for hatred”

Yesterday, Sunday 11 November, representatives from the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, Protestants (Anglicans, Calvinists and Evangelicals) and Muslims signed a peace message on behalf of the religions present in Serbia at the Archbishop’s House in Belgrade to mark the centenary of the end of the Great War. Mgr. Stanislav Hocevar, Archbishop of Belgrade, attended the event as a guest together with the apostolic nuncio to Serbia, Mgr. Luciano Suriani. “In the place where the Great War started in 1914 – the message reads – we want to forgive and, at the same time, ask for forgiveness”. Religious denominations called on political leaders in Europe to become “artisans of peace”, for never again must the European Continent, imbued with Judeo-Christian and Islamic spirituality, “become the breeding ground for hatred and self-destruction as a result of totalitarian ideologies”. The spiritual leaders of Serbia gathered not only in remembrance of the Great War, but also to condemn the 20th century, the so-called “century of wolves”. Thus their commitment is to promote, “on the wings of reason and faith, peace, reconciliation, solidarity and compassion, with a desire for fraternal communion”. The representatives of religions planted a “Moses bush”, saying that “only peace, that some of our brothers and sisters call Shalom and Muslims say ‘draw near to peace’, can contribute to the stability of Europe and the Balkans”.