General Secretary of the Council of Europe meets with a representative of the Moscow Patriarchate in Strasbourg

Terry Davis, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, met with Hegumen Philaret (Bulekov) on November 21, 2005.

Further cooperation between the Representation of the Moscow Patriarchate in Strasbourg and the Council of Europe was discussed. Hegumen Philaret conveyed T. Davis personal address of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia where the primate says that he is ready ‘to participate in discussions on inter-ethnic and inter-religious relations, and legislative regulations concerning religious communities’. ‘The Russian Orthodox Church strives to contribute to strengthening spiritual basis of cooperation between the peoples of Europe through her believers who reside in various European countries and also through the direct dialogue between the hierarchs of the Moscow Patriarchate and European intergovernmental institutions’, the address reads.

To make the interaction continual and systematic, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church established a special Representation in Strasbourg empowered to present the position of the Moscow Patriarchate in the Council of Europe.

While speaking about participation of European religious communities in discussion on the processes ongoing in Europe, Terry Davis and Hegumen Philaret said that it was necessary to work out a special procedure to make such interaction direct and fruitful. As examples of religious organizations participating in the work of the Council of Europe, the parties considered the last documents of the Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) concerning the place of women in religious communities and problems of religious education.

Among the participants were: A. Orlov, RF representative to the Council of Europe and Mr. Jean Louis Laurent, Director General of the Political Department of the Council of Europe.