Bishop Hillarion participates in the Presidium meeting of world religious leaders

Bishop Hillarion of Vienna and All Austria, representative of the Russian Orthodox Church to the European Institutions, visited Taiwan to participate in the 2nd Presidium meeting of world religious leaders.

Bishop Hillarion made a short stop in Tokyo where he met with the Primate of the Japanese Autonomous Orthodox Church Metropolitan Daniel of Tokyo and All Japan. The hierarchs discussed the past and the present of Christianity in Japan. Metropolitan Daniel presented Bishop Hillarion with his book ‘Sacrament of Faith’ translated into Japanese published by the Orthodox Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ in Tokyo.

On his arrival in Taiwan, Bishop Hillarion met with the Presidium religious leaders. He also met with Metropolitan Nikita of Hong Kong (Patriarchate of Constantinople) who represented Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople.

The 2nd Presidium meeting of world religious leaders was devoted to the theme on the Crisis of Sanctity. The Christian understanding of sanctity was presented by Rev. Sidney Griffith, professor at Catholic University in America. The papers presented were discussed in plenary sessions and working groups. The need was underlined to oppose secularism and materialism challenging all the traditional religions.

Special attention was given to the growing number of suicides among the youth and the need for a religious response to this tendency. It was noted that suicides are often caused by spiritual emptiness and the feeling of loneliness generated by a young man’s lacking purpose in life and higher religious ideals.

The Presidium of Religious Leaders is an international organization made up of representatives of Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism. Among its members are such representatives of Christian Churches as Patriarch Bartholomaios of Constantinople, Cardinal Theodore MacCarrick, the Armenian Patriarch Mesrob Grigorian of Constantinople, the Primate of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Sweden Archbishop Karl Hammar of Uppsala, the President of the Episcopal Church in the USA Bishop Frank Grizwold. The Moscow Patriarchate is represented by Bishop Hilarion of Vienna and Austria. Among representatives of other religions are Dalai Lama XIV, Chief Rabbi of Russia Berel Lazar, the Chairman of the Supreme Ulema of Bosnia and Herzegovina Mustafa Ceric. The 1st Presidium meeting took place in 2003 in Seville, Spain.