Common Appeal Signed by His Holiness Karekin II
On Sunday, December 1, His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians returned to the Mother See following his meeting in Moscow with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church and the spiritual leaders of the Caucasus. The meeting took place on November 26 in the Monastery of St. Daniel, by the invitation of His Holiness Alexy II, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, and with the participation of the Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II; His Holiness Ilia II, Patriarch of All Georgia; and Sheikh Ul Islam Allah-Shukur Pashazade, Spiritual Leader of Muslims in the Caucasus. During his visit to Moscow, the Pontiff of All Armenians also met with His Excellency Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation.
At the conclusion of the meeting, the religious leaders signed a common appeal, the text of which appears below:
MEETING OF THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS OF AZERBAIJAN,
ARMENIA, GEORGIA AND RUSSIA
Moscow, St. Daniel's Monastery, November 26, 2003
APPEAL
It is not for the first time that religious leaders have gathered in Moscow to seek together ways to promote a settlement of conflicts and to establish peace and accord in the Caucasus. The Armenian Apostolic Church, the Russian Orthodox Church and the Islamic community in Azerbaijan have a long tradition of meetings on the highest level, which have made their own contribution to the settlement of inter-ethnic conflicts in the Caucasus.
Today we welcome to this process the Georgian Orthodox Church renowned for her long peacemaking traditions. With hope, we expect the Second Inter-religious Peace Forum of the Commonwealth of the Independent States to take place on March 2-4, 2004, and call upon all the religious leaders of these countries to take part in it.
The sensible position taken by the Muslim and Christian religious leaders in the Caucasus and the continued Christian-Muslim dialogue in the region have prevented the inter-ethnic disputes from growing into a total Christian-Muslim conflict. However, tension in the Caucasus continues, with Abkhazia, Karabakh, Chechnya and South Ossetian Tzkhinvali regions remaining as bleeding wounds for our peoples. We thank the Most High for the absence of large-scale hostilities in these regions today. However, there are still forces carrying death and destruction. Blood has been shed in terrorist actions and bandit attacks. Thousands of people are suffering from lawlessness and disorder. Whole peoples find it difficult to return to normal religious, social, economic and political life.
Terrorists, extremists and political radicals try to use ethnic and religious differences to justify their own purposes which are far from true religion. An enemy image is made of people of other nationality or other religion. People of other ethnic origin or faith are declared the main authors of political instability, economic ruin, spiritual decline and all the disasters that fall on a particular people. Struggle with "enemy" by all means is often presented as a "holy" task.
Such exploitation of ethnic and religious ideals promotes an essentially totalitarian and nationalistic ideology. It works for the benefit of those forces which seek to drive religion away from the life of society and to sow distrust towards it. The authentic confession of faith leads not to enmity, nor national or religious pride, but to sacrificial love, peacemaking and good-neighborliness.
We declare again that terrorism cannot be warranted by religion. Those who resort to it have obliterated the image of the Creator in their souls. States should do everything possible to stop the activities of extremist groups, especially those controlled from outside of the Caucasus region. It is necessary in particular to establish control over arms in the region and to cut off the inflows of funds nourishing terrorism.
We insist that all the existing problems should be settled on the basis of international law. We call upon politicians to give a new impulse to the dialogue aimed at resolving all the differences impeding a lasting peace in the Caucasus. We declare that religious leaders are ready to take a most earnest part in such a dialogue.
In order to put an end to conflicts in the Caucasus and to set the development of the people on a peaceful course, it is necessary to restore trust among people. To this end, it is important that ethnic minorities should be involved in all the spheres of public life, that freedom of faith and religious work should be ensured for them, that they should enjoy an opportunity for developing their culture and their language. The refugees and asylum seekers who wish to return to their homes should not be forgotten. Those who are responsible for mass murder of civilians should be punished according to the law. But no one should suffer an unjust punishment or persecution. Indeed, even those who transgress law and especially their families have the right to humane treatment.
The culture of inter-ethnic communal life, which has always been so rich in the Caucasus, should be restored. In this connection, we would like to remind the powers that be, politicians, scholars, public figures, cultural workers and the mass media that a person cannot be elevated or humiliated on ethnic or confessional grounds. Every one of us is responsible before the Creator and people for every word we pronounce or publish. We believe the mass media, especially electronic ones, have done little to support inter-religious and inter-ethnic cooperation. A broad platform should be offered not to extremists who sow discord and enmity but to those leaders of religious and ethnic communities who preach peace and are set to maintain dialogue with one another. It is gratifying to see that the dramatic events in Georgia have not led to bloodshed. A great contribution to it has been made by the principled peace stand of the Georgian Church. We see in the peaceful outcome of the recent events a guarantee for an adequate resolution of other conflict situations in the Caucasus and continue to lift up prayers for the peace and prosperity of the Georgian people.
We would like to remind each of you that a life in harmony and dignity is unthinkable without a solid moral foundation. Our peoples have always been strongly committed to the eternal moral values revealed to us by the Creator. These values used to form our culture and our way of life. That is why we should restore today the moral foundations of personal and public life and to oppose resolutely such vices as debauchery, sexual laxity, crime, violence and all-permissiveness. Faith and morality are inseparable from culture. We have to exert every effort to protect the national cultural heritage, especially the places of worship, veneration and burial. An inspired, moral and cultured person is a benefit to his or her people and will always live in peace with neighbors.
Today we address the faithful of our religions. Let nobody sow in your souls the seed of enmity towards people of other faiths and nationalities. Heal the wounds inflicted by conflicts through prayer, communion and joint work. Remember that our people have an ages-long experience of common life. Do not listen to those who kindle hatred. They pursue their own purposes, while you will suffer if you let them lead you in their strings.
In our prayers we ask the Most High to put our rulers and our peoples on the path of peace and good-neighborliness.
Alexy II, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia
Iliya II, Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia
Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians
Sheikh-ul-Islam Allahshuqur Pasha-zade, Chairman of the Supreme Muslim Council of the Caucasian Peoples
