V European Orthodox-Catholic Forum is over in Paris

The venue of the meeting was Missions Étrangères de Paris. The meeting was co-presided by Cardinal Péter Erdő, Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest, and Metropolitan Gennadios of Sasima from the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
Twelve representatives of the Council of European Episcopal Conferences (CCEE) and twelve representatives of the Orthodox Churches in Europe met in Paris to study the theme: “Europe in fear of the threat from fundamentalist terrorism and the value of human person and religious freedom.”

In the last day of the meeting, a final message was adopted focusing on the major themes addressed during the four-day Forum, namely:

• Human dignity and religious liberty;
• Religious intolerance, discrimination and persecution;
• Fundamentalism and terrorism today;
• Social cohesion and the phenomenon of fear seen through the eyes of Church mission;
• Promotion of common well-being and solidarity;
• Jesus Christ is the only Christian answer to the threat of fundamentalism and terrorism.

The conclusion of the final message adopted by the members of the Forum was an urge to a dialogue between the people of various confessions and beliefs.

The European Orthodox-Catholic Forum has been active since 2008. It was founded upon the initiative of Cardinal Péter Erdő, Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest, and Bishop Hilarion of Vienna and Austria (currently Metropolitan of Volokolam, Chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations).

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