Brussels, 05/05/2008 (Agence Europe) - Discussions at the informal meeting of the presidents of the European Commission, Council and Parliament and around 20 high level representatives of Christianity, Judaism and Islam in Europe centred on climate change and reconciliation among peoples. This meeting was part of the initiative launched by Commission President José Manuel Barroso in 2005 to bring religious leaders together once a year for an informal exchange of views on issues in the news.
The challenges of climate change make dialogue with all levels of civil society essential and urgent in deciding measures to be taken immediately, said Barroso, indicating that religions had a special role to play since, through their outreach, they were able to mobilise large sections of society. “I am impressed to state that all the leaders highlighted our responsibility towards future generations,” he said. Independently of the proposals put on the table by the European Commission and currently under consideration by the Council and Parliament, there is today a general realisation on the part of politicians and civil society on the urgent need to do something about climate change, not only to avert future environmental disasters but to end the process that is seeing the most disadvantaged people, who will be the first to pay the costs of these upheavals, slide further into poverty, Barroso said. He welcomed the real commitment of religious leaders to join forces with the European Union was real. Europe had to be built on the very concept of diversity, he went on, addressing the second topic on the agenda, chosen as part of the European Year of Inter-cultural Dialogue 2008. Highlighting the cultural and religious diversity of the European Union, Barroso praised the virtues of dialogue among all communities. “We seek unity in diversity, which, from the religious point of view, means diversity reconciled,” he said. In view of the positive conversations between the religious communities attending the meeting, he said, “Let us unite in our common endeavour and prove that the preachers of a clash of civilisations are wrong”.
Creation was a concept common to all religions and humanity's responsibility to protect the planet was a universal challenge, said European Parliament President Hans-Gert Pöttering. The European Union was playing a major role in combating climate change, but so too were religious groups, he highlighted. Environmental challenges were an important issue among those currently being raised by modern society and it was the duty of religious leaders to engage in debates on the future, as provided for in Article 16 of the, legally binding, reformed Treaty, which recognises the churches as fully-fledged entities, he also noted. Janez Jansa, current President of the European Council, said that the environment was not only natural, but also sacred. “Climate change requires us to rethink how we channel imagination, ingenuity and entrepreneurship into creating a world, free of dependence on fossil fuels,” he said. As natural resources become ever rarer, the behaviour of the individual should change towards a more balanced sharing among all peoples, in a gesture of solidarity, he stated. The imminent setting up of the Euro-Mediterranean University in Slovenia in 2008 would allow European students of different religious confessions to meet and reflect on solutions to society's great problems, he concluded.
There was genuine consensus among the religious groups on the urgent need for intra-religious dialogue to be put to the service of combating climate change. Modern Man had been too greedy for artificial needs, said one participant, and he said the only solution was to be found in a complete change of attitude. In his speech on inter-cultural dialogue, the head of the Conference of European Churches (CEC) Jean-Arnold de Clermont highlighted the importance of considering European integration on the cultural, and not just economic and political, level. He also stressed how essential dialogue among communities was, given the increasing cultural diversity resulting from globalisation. “These prospects call for a change from a multicultural to an intercultural society, through the dynamic of exchange, through respect for diversity, respect that goes beyond tolerance and through the practice of a fair welcome for all,” he said. (I.L.)