An Interreligious Peace Forum in Moscow
20.11.2000 · English, Архив 2000
AN INTERRELIGIOUS PEACE FORUM IN MOSCOW
An Interreligious Peace forum took place on November 13-14, 2000, at the Danilovsky Hotel compound in Moscow. It was organized by the Interreligious Council of Russia and the Russian Ministry for the Federation and National and Migration Policy.
The forum was attended by the spiritual leaders of the traditional religions including Orthodox Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Buddhism from Russia and other countries of the Commonwealth of the Independent States, among them His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia, His Holiness and Beatitude Iliya II, Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, 
Supreme Mufti Sheiks-ul-Islam Talgat Tajuddin, chairman of the Central Moslem Board for Russian and CIS European Countries; Mufti Ravil Gainutdin, chairman of the Council of the Muftis in Russia; Russia’a Chief Rabbil A. S. Shaevich of the Congress of the Jewish Religious Organizations and Associations in Russia, Russia’s Chief Rabbi Berl Lazar of the Federation of the Jewish Comminities in Russia, Pandido Khambo Lama Damba Ayishev, head of the Buddhist Traditional Sangha in Russia; Mufti Absattar Derbisaliev, chairman of the Kazakhstan Moslem Board; Dr. William Vendley, general secretary of the World Conference on Religion and Peace; Ms. Vendy Tyndale, coordinator of the World Religions Development Dialogue, Rev. Friedhelm Pieper, general secretary of the International Christian-Jewish Council, representatives of international interreligious organizaitons, secular experts in various fields, governmental officials, and CIS diplomats. In total there were over 300 participants.
His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II made an opening speech. Russian President V. V. Putin sent the Forum a message of greetings. 
Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations, made a presentation on “Through a Harmonization of the Secular Liberal and the Traditional Religious Approaches Towards Solution of Interethnic and Interreligious Problems”. Messages of greetings were brought from Russia’s Government, the State Duma Speaker G. Seleznev, the Moscow Mayor Yu. Luzhkov, the Caucasus Supreme Mufti and Azerbaijani Moslem leader Sheikh-ul-Islam Allahshuqura Pasha-zade, and Metropolitan Damascene of Switzerland, chairman of the Interreligious and Intercultural Studies and Dialogue Foundation.
Plenary sessions were held on the first day of the Forum. During the second day, participants worked in the three sections: Overcoming and Preventing Interethnic and Interreligious Conflicts, Religion, State and Society on National Level, and Cooperation with International Interreligious Organizations. The Forum was concluded with a brief plenary session during which a Final Document was adopted. The participants also adopted a Statement, which was signed by the spiritual leaders of Christinaity, Islam, Buddhism and Judaism.
A press-conference was held on the results of the Forum by Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, Mufti Talgat Tajudin, Chief Rabbi Shaevich, Chief Rabbi Lazar, Khambo Lama Ayushev, and Mufti Derbicaliev.