Cultural dialogue
An international conference on religions and cultures, such as the one which took place in Nicosia a few days ago, could only be marked by a wealth of ideas and views and by the expression of differences. Through these differences, however, surfaces a powerful common denominator: eternal human values. Everyone in his or her own way, invoking religion and culture, finally highlighted what is essentially the core of every spiritual movement… It is worth noting that everyone agreed that all religions and cultures have the duty to actively condemn fanaticism and religious intolerance. Both these phenomena are a crime, not only against the faithful but also against faith and spirituality itself, which is the basis of all religion. All these are not original remarks but constitute crucial issues for all societies. But they would be mere wishful thinking were they not connected to the burning issues, and the global inequalities that generate crises and wars. The Cyprus conference brought to the surface the great truth that there can be no peace under conditions of impoverishment, starvation and repression; and it underscored that calls against extremism are meaningless when entire peoples are driven to despair by the arrogant self-interested policies of the global elites…
