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Catholicos Aram I Attends Interreligious Dialogue Meeting In Tehran

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  • Catholicos Aram I Attends Interreligious Dialogue Meeting In Tehran

    CATHOLICOS ARAM I ATTENDS INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE MEETING IN TEHRAN

    tert.am
    15.05.12

    The fifth meeting of the Interreligious Dialogue, which was initiated
    some 15 years ago by His Holiness Aram I and Ayatollah Taskhiri,
    was held on Monday 14 May in Tehran.

    The theme of the meeting was "The role of religion in promoting
    ethical values in society". The introductory remarks were made by Dr.

    Mohammed Reza Dehshiri, Vice president, Center of Research, Education
    and Academic Exchange and by Archbishop Sebouh Sarkissian, the
    Primate of the Armenians of Tehran, the press service of the Cilicia
    Patriarcate reported.

    Ayatollah Taskhiri as the first director of the Center greeted the
    conference highly appreciating the role of His Holiness Aram I in
    promoting interreligious dialogue on global level. Inaugural speech
    was given by Dr. Mohammed Bagher Korramshed, president of Organization
    of Culture and Islamic Relations. He emphasized the importance of
    dialogue and the centrality of moral values for Islam.

    The key note address was given by His Holiness Aram I. His Holiness
    considered the moral values the core of religion. He said that
    "Religion has its divine and human dimensions. Distinction between
    these two dimensions is important. Revelation as a God given reality
    generates human response, which is affected by time and space".

    Speaking about moral values, Aram I said that they touch all aspects
    of life. His Holiness emphasized that "moral values should sustain and
    govern the life of a society, otherwise it may lose its identity and
    direction and disintegrates". His Holiness identified three areas
    of concern: relativism of moral values, politicization of moral
    values, and increasing decay of moral values. According to Aram I,
    "Dialogue is an efficient way of creating mutual understanding and
    peaceful coexistence among nations". The Catholicos considered lack of
    mutual trust an evil force that dominates the life of many societies:
    "Religion should not create fear and mistrust but should generate
    mutual understanding, tolerance and trust".

    The keynote address of Aram I was followed by the following
    presentations: Dr. A. Gavahi, "Islam ethical approach to society,
    politics and international relation", Mr. R. Biglarian "A glance
    at the role of ethics in resolving international crisis with
    special reference to environment issues", Dr. M. Merghati "Ethics-
    jurisprudence relations and their compatibility in today's human
    issues", Archbishop Sebouh Sarkissian "Fundaments of morality in
    Christianity", Dr. K. N. Barzegar "The ethical culture of Muslims
    to impact peaceful coexistence", Ms. Emilia Nersisians "A historical
    approach to ethics and trade with special reference to Isfahan during
    the Safavid era", Dr. H. Shomali "The social aspects of Islamic
    ethics". Each presentation was followed by discussion.

    More than hundred people attended the conference. At the end of the
    conference, a joint statement was issued. The statement emphasized
    the pivotal role of moral values and called for better relations and
    greater collaboration between religions in general and Christianity
    and Islam in particular. The statement reminded that: "The religions
    of the world, besides their differences, have also common values and
    share common perspectives and approaches in respect to global issues
    and challenges. Therefore, we believe that developing a common and
    global ethical framework could provide a firm basis for religions
    and particularly to divine religions for joint action".

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