"The pacifist action of religions, depends today on the peace of the religions themselves between them, with the dialogue of religions and the cooperation of the good of man ", stressed the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, who announced the start of the international conference on completion (the 2021) 30 years of his ministry, which is organized by the Theological School of AUTh and the Patriarchal Foundation for Patriarchal Studies.
"We are witnessing this dialogue in the belief that we are helping to build trust., to the power and effectiveness of dialogue in general, but also in dealing with anti-religious religious fundamentalism, of this morbid religiosity, which fuels hatred and violence ", he added.
Speaking at the opening session, which took place in the ceremony hall of AUTh, the Ecumenical Patriarch stressed that in the genuine religious faith, there are incentives to contribute, not only indoors, spiritual peace, but also in external peace and in overcoming aggression and violence in society.
Mr.. Bartholomew praised the offer and the diverse activities of the Patriarchal Foundation for Patriarchal Studies, based in the monastery of Vlatada on the Acropolis of Thessaloniki, which he characterized as the boast of the Great Church.
He pointed out that the study of the Church Fathers, it is not a turn in the past, since they belong to the core of our Orthodox life and identity over time and dealing with them does not produce conservatism. "Those immortals and foreigners who saw the study of paternal thought as barren adherence to outdated theological standards…or even as an ideological weapon against the Ecumenical Dialogues, they did not understand their spirit and dynamism ", reported.
He stressed that modern Orthodox theology owes a lot to Mount Athos and added that monasticism is not a movement despite the Church, or above the Church, but flesh of her flesh and her boasting. "The solitary life is an ascetic obedience to the universal truth of the Church and in its direction towards the coming Kingdom", write down.
Ecumenical Patriarch points out that modern times need theological witness, that does not narrow the mind and heart, but opens the horizons. Talk about "ten-athlete theologians", people with training and devotion to the Church, called to express "the saving truths of the Christian faith in the language of every particular age".
Orthodox theology "is currently giving its philotheistic and philanthropic testimony to the great modern challenges, technological, finance, environmental, social, policies, cultural, moral and religious and related threats to the sanctity and beauty of the human face, promotes community and relationship versus individualism, against the massification and transformation of man into a measurable quantity, the freedom, the uniqueness and absolute value of every human being, underlines the pacifying power and the peaceful mission of religion and the need for interfaith dialogue ", underlined.
He mentioned the need for the creative encounter with the different and the more consistent knowledge and cultivation of our culture to coexist.. "We have to develop a theology of difference," he said, in relation to a theology of universality ".
Mr.. Bartholomew pointed out that dialogue with the world in which the Church lives and moves is necessary, "But she does not identify with him, does not even ignore him ". He stressed, that the Church, "It's a transformative force for the world, not anti-world ".
The Ministry of Interior collaborated to organize the conference – Macedonia-Thrace sector the Region of Central Macedonia, the municipality of Thessaloniki, the metropolises of Thessaloniki, the Society for Macedonian Studies and the Philoptochos Men's Brotherhood of Thessaloniki.
The "present" was given by the Deputy Minister of Interior, responsible for Macedonia-Thrace issues, Stavros Kalafatis, the Deputy Minister of Education and Religions, Zeta Makri, the Archbishop of Athens and all of Greece, Jerome, the Metropolitan of Thessaloniki Anthimos, the governor of Central Macedonia Apostolos Tzitzikostas, the mayor of Thessaloniki, Konstantinos Zervas, the US ambassador to Greece, George Tsounis, the rector of AUTh, Nikos Papaioannou, the former Deputy Prime Minister, Evangelos Venizelos, Members, hierarchs and representatives of authorities.