Eighth
Dialogue between, the Group of EPP-Ed in European
parliament and the Orthodox Church
Thessaloniki, Greece, 21-22 October 2004: Building
Europe through reconciliation and cooperation
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MR. LATCHEZAR TOSHEV MP
UNION OF DEMOCRATIC FORCES, BULGARIA
CHAIRMAN OF THE PARLIAMENTARY
COMMITTEE FOR
HUMAN RIGHTS AND RELIGIONS
Distinguished Eminencies, Beatitudes, Fathers,
Dear European and National Parliamentarians,
I am grateful indeed for the
invitation to participate in the Eight Dialogue between the EPP-ED and the
Orthodox Church. I think it is remarkable initiative which is the consequence
of the European Union enlargement with new member states where Orthodox Church
is influential and I admire the position of the EPP-ED to include them its
agenda. As Christian Democrats, for us is very important to keep the dialogue
with Orthodox Church which is very influential in East and South East Europe as
well as in the new neighborhood of the European Union. In this respect I wish
first of all to pay tribute to His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch
Bartholomew I, the Archbishop of Constantinople New Rome from one side and Mr.
Wim van Velzen, the Vice President of the EPP as well as of the EPP-ED Group in
the European Parliament, supported by the Robert Shuman Foundation by the other
side. I am here in two capacities – as the member of the Union of the
Democratic Forces of Bulgaria, on the other hand I am here as Vice Chairman of
the EPPCD Fraction of the Parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe
authorized by the Group, and our Chairman Mr. Van der Linden to convey his
greetings and encouragement for the continuation of this Dialogue in the
future.
EPP/CD Faction has a special
working group “Christianity-Islam” which is going to organize a conference on
this theme next spring. In this Dialogue between the Christianity and Islam the
role of the Orthodox Church is very important one both on European territory
and on new neighborhood. The Muslim community cohabitated with the Orthodox
Church for very long time during the time of the Turkish Empire and also now in
states like Israel, Egypt, Syria, Jordan etc, where large
Orthodox communities are living. They are known there and obviously well
accepted. The Orthodox Christians are not considered by Muslims as crusaders
due to their traditional tolerance and acceptance of the right of the free will
of the people in the religious affairs. In this sense we in EPPCD Group are in
the position that the Orthodox Church has to play the crucial role in the
Dialogue between Christianity and Islam.
On behalf of the Group Mr. Van
der Linden has tabled the proposal to the Bureau of the Parliamentary Assembly
to send the invitation to His All Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch to address
the Assembly. Unfortunately the decision has not been taken yet but I believe
that next year when, I am convinced, Mr. Van der Linden will become the
President of the Assembly, this initiative will be successfully realized.
The third point that I would
like to make is the declaration adopted by the participants in the Sixth
Dialogue in Bucharest
which called the Council of Europe that the program for education of democratic
citizenship based on the rights and responsibilities of the citizens should be
joined by the Churches. Unfortunately up to now the Council of Europe has not
reacted to this proposal but the year 2005 was declared as European Year of
Democratic Citizenship Based on Education, which is an opportunity for such
interaction.
Now I would like first of all
to admire the Vlatadon Process which started in 2000 here in Thessaloniki in the monastery of the
Ecumenical Patriarchate called Vlatadon which aimed the tolerance and mutual
respect among the people in South East Europe. The Church has serious role to
play in achieving reconciliation after so many conflict which the region has
passed through. We have suffered a lot from the clash between the great powers
and the struggle for the areas of influence. In this sense I would like to call
that the principal of independence of Church from the state should be
reaffirmed especially in the states which suffer the communist regimes, where
the Church has been put under the total domination of the totalitarian
communist parties and their intelligence services. This is a very painful fact
for all of us.
Speaking now as the ordinary
member of the Orthodox Church, I would like to confess that I fell myself
confused because of the fact that the Russian patriarch is the member of the
Council of National Security of Russian Federation, and for two years he was a
Chairman of this Council. This is a civil post and I am asking myself how it is
compatible with the Rule 6 and Rule 81 of the Holy Apostles’Rules and how he managed to combine both positions.
In conclusion I think that the
role of Church is to promote the Christian values in the society and the
tolerance towards different religions. It is not necessary to accept their
doctrines neither to worship together but just to recognize the free will to
everybody as the Orthodox Church is doing.
Being Bulgarian I would like to give an
example with the Bulgarian Orthodox Church which played an active role in
accommodation of Armenian refugees from the Turkish Empire
in the beginning of the 20th century. It also played a very active
role in rescuing the Bulgarian Jewish community during the Holocaust, and 50
thousand Jews were saved despite of the fact that from religious point of view
there are significant differences and even confrontation of the religious
doctrines. But it was a real sign how we interpreted our Lord’s story about the
Good Samaritan and I would say that I am proud of my Church because of that.
Thank you for your kind attention.