[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 7 (Wednesday, February 2, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S297-S299]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  RELIGIOUS LEADERS ON RECONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTHEASTERN 
                                 EUROPE

 Mr. LUGAR. Mr. President, the World Conference on Religion and 
Peace (WCRP) is an organization that is dedicated to promoting 
cooperation among the religions of the world on behalf of peace while 
maintaining respect for religious differences.
  Since its founding in 1970, the WCRP has become a genuinely global 
movement with over 30 national chapters and members in over 100 
countries.
  Two months ago, in Amman, the capital city of Jordan, the WCRP held 
its 7th World Assembly, which brought together senior leaders of many 
of the major religions of the world as well as their civil and 
political counterparts.
  The Assembly was held on November 26 and 27, 1999, under the 
patronage of King Abdullah II and the chairmanship of Prince El Hassan 
bin Talal, and was attended by some 1,300 delegates from 68 countries.
  I note that among the participants in the Amman Assembly was our 
distinguished former colleague, a Member from Indiana for 22 years of 
the House of Representatives, where he was Majority Whip, and is now 
President Emeritus of New York University, Dr. John Brademas.
  Dr. Brademas, who is also Chairman of the National Endowment for 
Democracy (NED), presided at a discussion in Amman on ``The Shape of 
the Future as a Challenge to Religion.''
  Mr. President, the Assembly also convened a ``Forum of South Eastern 
European Religious Leaders'' to promote inter-religious cooperation for 
reconciliation, reconstruction and development in the region. 
Representatives from more than 25 different religious communities in 10 
countries from South Eastern Europe participated in the forum.
  I am pleased to note that the person who organized and chaired this 
forum, James Cairns, WCRP Project Director, South Eastern Europe, 
Sarajevo, lived several years in Elkhart, Indiana, where his father was 
a Presbyterian Church pastor.
  As the Secretary-General of WCRP, Dr. William F. Vendley, observed, 
``This unprecedented gathering of religious leaders from South Eastern 
Europe will initiate a process of contact and a dialogue among the 
religious communities both within specific states and throughout the 
region to develop concrete inter-religious cooperation.''
  Mr. President, together this group of leaders of several faiths, 
drawing on their diverse traditions and working together, produced a 
statement calling for the promotion of reconciliation, democracy and 
the peaceful development of South Eastern Europe, and committing 
themselves to opening dialogue among their communities.
  Mr. President, because of the great importance of the events in this 
troubled part of the world and the significant role of religious 
leadership in South Eastern Europe, I ask to have the statement printed 
in the Record.
  The statement follows:

  Statement of Religious Leaders on Reconstruction and Development in 
                          South Eastern Europe

       As leaders and responsible representatives of religious 
     communities from South Eastern Europe we have gathered at 
     this Forum in Amman Jordan on 26-27 November 1999, in the 
     context of the Seventh World Assembly of the World Conference 
     on Religion and Peace, to discuss the current situation in 
     our region and to identify how our communities can work 
     together to promote reconstruction and development both 
     within our respective states and throughout the region as a 
     whole.
       As religious people, we must affirm that in each of our 
     traditions human life is sacred. Any violation of the rights 
     of any person is not acceptable and must be condemned. Our 
     religious traditions all seek to promote fullness of life 
     through peace, justice, mercy and love.


                    CONFLICT IN SOUTH EASTERN EUROPE

       Sadly, our recent experience in South Eastern Europe has 
     been filed with conflict that has denied these to many 
     people. After the fall of communism, our region has suffered 
     through unrest and conflict. These conflicts have rekindled 
     old prejudices and created mutual distrust and division among 
     peoples. We regret that key actors in the international 
     community lacked the vision, commitment and preventive 
     strategies to prevent these catastrophes. Even countries that 
     have escaped the violence that has afflicted the states of 
     the former Yugoslavia have faced serious social crises that 
     have created considerable instability in their societies.
       We are proud of the role that our religions have played in 
     the history, culture and traditions of the nations and 
     peoples of our region. Our religious identities have been and 
     will continue to be an essential part of who we are as 
     believers and as people. But, we are also aware that this 
     close identity between religious and national communities has 
     been misused by those in positions of influence and power. 
     Too often, within our ethnic and religious c0ommunities there 
     have been efforts to portray others as the enemy and a danger 
     to the safety of our own community. We must resist and 
     overcome such stereotyping to ensure that our heritage can 
     serve to build strong futures for all people and not simply 
     be used to perpetuate the myth that security comes only in 
     ethnically pure states.


                        JUSTICE AND FORGIVENESS

       We regret and mourn the destruction and death of so many 
     innocent victims in the

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     conflicts that have raged through the region, as well as the 
     destruction of religious objects in all our communities. We 
     are challenged to ask for forgiveness and seek reconciliation 
     across communities, not because religious communities are 
     responsible for these conflicts, but because religion must 
     set the example for the rest of the society to follow. We 
     acknowledge that as members of communities we cannot escape a 
     sense of collective shame for what has occurred, but we must 
     preserve the principle of individual guilt and responsibility 
     for acts and atrocities committed during these conflicts, 
     particularly those leaders who were instrumental in creating 
     these crises. The deep principle of justice in each of our 
     traditions requires that those responsible be judged based on 
     international standards of law without guilt being assigned 
     to entire communities. Punishing entire populations simply 
     multiplies injustices and the suffering of the innocent.


                       THE ROLE OF CIVIL SOCIETY

       As we look to the future, religious communities can and 
     must play a central role in building strong civil society 
     throughout the region. Political leaders and institutions 
     have a primary role and responsibility for building strong 
     states, but material reconstruction and development can be 
     long lasting only with a corresponding moral and social 
     reconstruction and development. Religious communities must be 
     decisive leaders in a process of promoting truth, justice and 
     reconciliation in their societies so that all persons and 
     groups can have their rights respected and 
     protected throughout the region. In this regard, we must 
     develop a new concept of security. Security cannot be 
     based solely on armaments and military strength, but must 
     be based on strong and open societies, in which all are 
     protected and cared for and in which conflicts are 
     resolved through dialogue and negotiation rather than 
     through violence. Therefore, we urge the governments in 
     our region to reduce their militaries and armaments and to 
     work to reduce the presence of arms among their 
     populations.
       As religious leaders and representatives from the region, 
     we are encouraged by the efforts of the international 
     community to develop the Stability Pact of Reconstruction and 
     Development in South Eastern Europe. We must remind both 
     international authorities and our own national leaders, 
     however, that the welfare of human beings individually and as 
     groups must remain at the center of such efforts. Without 
     this human dimension no amount of good works will provide 
     true security, peace and prosperity.
       In this regard, we express our solidarity with the brothers 
     and sisters in each of our faith communities in Yugoslavia. 
     Both for stability and successful regional integration it is 
     essential for Yugoslavia to be part of the Stability Pact 
     process as soon as possible. In the meantime, however, 
     humanitarian assistance must not be denied to those in need 
     and we urge the international community to allow basic 
     foodstuffs, medicines, and heating fuel to be provided to the 
     people of that country without delay.


        a common call to the governments of south eastern europe

       Almost all of our communities are emerging from a communist 
     period that severely marginalized religion in society. 
     Together we seek to promote a strong civil society and the 
     essential role of religious communities in that process, but 
     we cannot accomplish this goal alone. Therefore, we call on 
     civil authorities at the local, state, regional and 
     international level:
       To promote and actively practice democracy, human rights, 
     and the rule of law, with particular protection for minority 
     groups, in all states in the region.
       To respect and establish the formal separation of political 
     and religious institutions so that each can freely perform 
     its own tasks and respect the functions of the other.
       To regard religious communities, which possess both 
     infrastructure and expertise in providing social services to 
     the people and which have an essential role in protecting the 
     social security of all people, as legitimate partners in the 
     work of reconstruction and development.
       To provide support for the development of strong civil 
     society through adopting appropriate laws, financial 
     regulations, and other policies that will provide the 
     necessary environment for religious communities and other 
     civic organizations to thrive.
       To allow free practice of religious belief for all persons 
     and to ensure the availability of religious service in the 
     military and other social institutions.
       To promote policies of economic development that are 
     sustainable and humane and can ensure economic security for 
     all people in the region. Integration into broader European 
     structures is an important dimension of this process.
       To adopt and implement laws on restitution of property to 
     religious communities that was nationalized or expropriated 
     by previous regimes. This property is essential for religious 
     communities to retain their independence from political 
     control and to carry out their religious and social mission.
       To develop media practices that do not promote division, 
     mistrust and hostility among peoples, but can contribute to 
     building healthy democratic societies. In this regard we call 
     for greater access for all religious communities to the media 
     in their respective countries.


                       opening religious dialogue

       As representatives of our respective religious communities, 
     we know that there is no alternative to dialogue both within 
     and among our communities, and we commit ourselves to take 
     the following steps to promote dialogue and cooperation among 
     ourselves and to enhance the role of our communities as 
     important social institutions in our societies:
       We will seek partnerships with other civic and social 
     organizations in our societies to carry out social welfare 
     activities for which we share a common concern.
       We will educate all persons to understand and respect our 
     different faith traditions in order to prevent ignorance and 
     fear from once again fueling violence. To this end we must 
     ensure that school curriculums and textbooks treat each 
     religious tradition in a way that individuals from that 
     tradition can recognize themselves. We will also provide 
     basic information about each religious community and organize 
     teacher exchanges in our own religious institutions to 
     promote better understanding and mutual respect.
       We commit ourselves to pray for and to promote tolerance, 
     coexistence and peace both within our own communities and for 
     our brothers and sisters in other communities. We also pledge 
     ourselves to promote a climate of peace within our 
     communities by stressing to our own officials that preaching 
     must not interpret our own faith by attacking others. We must 
     show respect to others by not using inflammatory language in 
     our public statements.
       We encourage the formation of inter-religious working 
     committees in each state to foster contact and dialogue among 
     the communities as a first step towards practical 
     cooperation.
       We will work to take part in joint public meetings and 
     visits by religious leaders within our own states and around 
     the region to promote the idea of tolerance and common living 
     among communities and peoples.
       We pledge ourselves to find the means to provide mutual 
     assistance for those who suffer in whatever way in our 
     societies. In these efforts, we want to state that majority 
     religious communities have a particular responsibility to 
     protect the human and religious rights of smaller or minority 
     communities in their areas.
       Our region continues to face considerable challenges in the 
     process of reconstruction, reconciliation and development. We 
     believe that religious communities can play a vital role in 
     this process, and we are thankful to God that we have had the 
     opportunity to meet together and discuss such critical 
     issues, and we express our appreciation to the World 
     Conference on Religion and Peace for convening this important 
     meeting. We commit ourselves to pursuing contact and dialogue 
     with each other both within the states of South Eastern 
     Europe and across the region as a whole for the purpose of 
     building active instruments of interreligious cooperation, 
     and we ask for the World Conference on Religion and Peace to 
     continue to assist us in facilitating this process of 
     building cooperation in our region.

Forum of South Eastern European Religious Leaders, World Conference on 
                           Religion and Peace


                           participants list

                                Islamic

       Mr. Mehmet Emin Aga, Mufti of Xanthi, Greece.
       Dr. Rexhep Bojaj, Mufti and President, Islamic Community of 
     Kosovo.
       H.E. Dr. Mustafa Ceric, Reisu-l-Ulema, Islamic Community of 
     Bosnia-Herzegovina.
       Mr. Idriz Demirovic, Mufti and President, Islamic Community 
     of Montenegro.
       Mr. Moustafa Alich Hadji, Grand Mufti, Islamic Community of 
     Bulgaria.
       Mr. Aziz Hasanovic, Senior Imam, Zagreb, Croatia.
       Mr. Hamdija Jusufspahic, Mufti, Islamic Community of 
     Serbia.
       H.E. Mr. Sulejman Red'epi, Reis-ul-Ulema, Islamic Community 
     of Macedonia.
       Mr. Selim Stafa, Deputy Chairman, Islamic Community of 
     Albania.
       Mr. Ibrahim Serif, Mufti of Komotini, Greece.
       Mr. Muamer Zukorlic, Mufti, Islamic Community of Sand'ak.

                                Orthodox

       His Beatitude Anastasios, Archbishop of Tirana and All 
     Albania, Albanian Orthodox Church.
       Very Rev. Ieronim Cretu, Superior of Romanian Orthodox 
     Church in Jerusalem.
       Prof. Georgios Filias, Professor, Theological Faculty, 
     Greek Orthodox Church.
       H.E. Timotej Jovanovski, Metropolitan of Debar-Ki-evo, 
     Macedonian Orthodox Church.
       H.E. Nikolaj Mrla, Metropolitan of Dabrobosnia, Serbian 
     Orthodox Church.
       His Grace Artemije Radosavljevic, Bishop of Raska-Prizren, 
     Serbian Orthodox Church.
       H.E. Gligori Stefanov, Metropolitan of Veliko Tirnovo, 
     Bulgarian Orthodox Church.

                             Roman Catholic

       Fr. George Frendo, Vicar General, Archdiocese of Durres-
     Tirana, Albania.
       Dr. Karl Ocvrik, Professor, Theological Faculty, 
     Archdiocese of Ljubljana, Slovenia.
       H.E. Vinko Cardinal Puljic, Archbishop of Vhrbosna 
     (Sarajevo).
       Msgr. Marko Sopi, Bishop of Prizren, Kosovo.

                                 Jewish

       Rabbi Menachem Hacohen, Great Rabbi, Jewish Community of 
     Romania.
       Mr. Emil Kalo, President of Organization of Jews in 
     Bulgaria n Shalom.
       Dr. Ognjen Kraus, President of Coordinating Board of Jewish 
     Communities in Croatia.

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       Mr. Aca Singer, President of Federation of Jewish 
     Communities in Yugoslavia.

                               Protestant

       Dr. Peter Kuzmic, President, Council of Evangelical 
     Churches in Croatia.

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