Moscow Patriarchate representative takes part in international seminar on Human Rights and Dignity

An international seminar on Human Rights and Dignity took place on 26-31 May 2008 at Bossey, Switzerland. It was attended by representatives of Christian Churches and traditional religions as well as experts in human rights from South-East Asia, North and South America and Europe. The seminar focused on such problems as correlation between rights and obligations especially as applied to various social groups, women’s rights in the Church, practical realization of Christian approaches to human rights on major inter-state platforms, especially within the existing international mechanisms; the rights to protect women and children in situations of armed conflicts; the right to the freedom of expression and faith.

Among the participants was Archpriest Alexander Abramov, secretary of the Moscow Patriarchate representation in the USA and representative of the World Russian People’s Council in the UN. He presented the Russian Orthodox Church’s vision of the basic aspects of the human rights concept, making a special emphasis on the theoretical foundations of some elements in the Orthodox teaching on personality and human inalienable rights as reflected in the works of the 19^th-20^th century Russian philosophers, especially N. Berdyaev and S. Frank. He stressed the dynamic nature of the human dignity notion and a special significance of collectivity in the understanding of human rights as reflected in the idea of communality and conciliarity.

Father Alexander noted that interreligious and inter-cultural dialogue played a prominent part in implementing the Orthodox conception of human rights and dignity. He also made an overview of the human rights initiatives set forth by the Russian Orthodox Church in the UN and its specialized agencies, including the Human Rights Council.

DECR Communication Service