At today’s session of the Circle 99 dedicated to the topic “Contemporary spirituality and peace building” it was concluded that the coexistence, dialogue and meeting of different religious communities have great importance in B&H and globally.
As Adi Kulenović, the president of the Circle 99 put it: The need to discuss this topic comes from the challenges present at the local and global level.
“Lots of people say that after the crisis in Ukraine there is a possibility of refracting interests of the countries that hold a great deal of power in this part of the world and a possibility of them wanting to possess this territory.” – said Kulenović and added that there is a reason to worry when it comes to B&H.
During his speech, Adilović also commented the latest statements of the Russian Minister of foreign affairs, Lavrov, about those interests.
“It is indisputable that, when it comes to the problems at Krim, Russia wants to switch the focus by talking about the Balkans. We in the Circle 99 believe that the relations with Russia should stay calm. In that context, we give initiative to the actual political subjects which means an active dialogue with Russia.” – said Kulenović.
Fra Marko Oršolić spoke today about spirituality in the context of settling the conflict.
“We will launch an initiative to organize a big world congress dedicated to the interreligious dialogue in 2021. Today is the first day of that initiative.” – stated Oršolić.
Talking about the spirituality and the role of religious communities, the president of the Jewish community in B&H Jakob Finci introduced this topic at today’s session.
“We will accentuate especially the role of spirituality and emphasize the possibilities of the religious communities in the peace keeping process. Twenty years ago we went through a hard war period and we know what it means to live in peace, that’s why we fight for it.” – said Finci.
Dževad Hodžić. Professor at the Faculty of Islamic studies also talked about the importance of the coexistence and different religious communities and pointed out that the misuse of religion is known for centuries.
“Religion has been misused through history and today it’s being used for various purposes. The key question in B&H is how to cope with religious and cultural differences. It is important to choose the right concept. One concept offers a possibilities for the differences to be repressed while the other teaches us how to approach each other. This second concept is surely better.” – said Hodžić and added that the religious communities can do much more if they get political support and if everyone starts being oriented towards a concept of cooperation.
At the beginning of the session, the members of the Circle 99 remembered and honoured the deceased Fra Luka Markešić.
(Source: Oslobođenje / photo: Anadolija)
