Conference on the problem of secularism in modern society completed its work in Rome

The Conference on Church and Secularism in Modern Society from the Orthodox and Roman Catholic Perspectives completed its work in Rome on 30 March 2006.

The Orthodox participants began the second working day with prayer before the relics of St. Alexis, the Man of God, commemorated on March 30. He was born into the family of a Roman senator and was buried in St. Boniface’ church. A particle of his relics and a part of the stairs under which the saint had lived for seventeen years have been preserved in the church.

Final reports were delivered at the Conference followed by a lively discussion. After the discussion, a news conference took place taking part in which were co-moderators of the forum on the Russian-Italian civil society dialogue Ms. L.Todini and Mr. S. Yastzhembsky, Italian minister of national patrimony and culture R.Buttilione, Russian ambassador to Italy A.Meshkov, deputy chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations Bishop Mark of Yegorievsk and Prof. P.Azzaro.

Speaking before the journalists and participants in the Conference, R. Buttilione emphasized that ‘Europe could be sustainable in case its finds room for all its cultures’. The co-moderators of the forum think that dialogue among traditional Christian confessions of Europe plays an important part in the solution of problems facing the European nations. For instance, Ms. Todini noted that the Conference had given a good example of a successful discussion of spiritual foundations of European civilization by church representatives, politicians, scholars, educationalists and persons involved in the arts. Bishop Mark highly appreciated the dialogue conducted at the Conference by the Russian Orthodox and the Roman Catholic Churches as the integral and important parts of civil societies of Russia and Italy. He welcomed the development of the Orthodox-Catholic talks within Russian-Italian civil society dialogue.