No common prayer in Assisi. The interreligious meeting in Assisi: by way of explanation

NO COMMON PRAYER IN ASSISI
THE INTERRELIGIOUS MEETING IN ASSISI: BY WAY OF EXPLANATION

As the DECR Communication Service has been receiving questions about a ‘common prayer’ of the delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church with representatives of different religions at the intereligious meeting in Assisi, Italy, on 24 January 2002, we offer the following explanation:

Such confusion could appear because of the distorted interpretation of the event in Assisi by some mass media.

The delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church has not participated in a ‘common prayer’ or in a divine service, as there was none of the kind at the above-mentioned meeting. The name of the event, ‘The Day of Prayer for Peace in the World’ presupposed a private prayer on a strictly confessional basis in separate isolated premises.

Even before the meeting in Assisi representatives of the Roman Catholic Church, which organized it, have repeatedly announced their wish to avoid any kind of religious syncretism. The heart of the matter is that the meeting was indeed the encounter of representatives of different religions of the world and the announcement their commitment to defend peace in the world and prevent the use of religious motives for justification of violence and terrorism.

Also, it should be noted that participation of official representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church on the level of bishops in different interChristian and interreligious forums is not a ‘sensational innovation’, as it happens rather often. The same can be said about the events organized by the Roman Catholic Church.