On Friday, June 29th, 2018, the 8th round of Religious Dialogue between the Islamic Culture and Relations Organization (ICRO) and the Armenian Church, Catholicosate of Cilicia, concluded its three-day meeting. His Holiness Aram I, Dr. Abouzar Ebrahimi, , the President of ICRO, and Dr. Mohammad Mahdi Taskhiri, the Director General of Center for interreligious Dialogue of Islamic Republic of Iran, delivered their closing remarks. Following the closing ceremony, a meeting was held between the Christian-Muslim Dialogue Committee of Lebanon and the members of the Executive Committee of the Middle East Council of Churches.
At the closing ceremony, the three speakers underlined the main points of the Dialogue, which mainly evolved around the lack of theocentric approach to the environment in people’s lives and the absence of ethical and moral values in human’s relationship with the environment. His Holiness Aram I stressed that both Christian and Muslim theology have similar understanding of environment, which facilitates the collaboration between the two regarding the matter. Dr, Ebrahimi pointed out the role of awareness and education on the grassroot level, so that people treat the environment as God’s creation. And Finally, Dr. Taskhiri stressed the importance of responsible approach to the environment in an era where technology develops rapidly.
The meeting was concluded with practical suggestions resulting from the exhaustive dialogue of the three day conference and exchange of gifts.
During the second part of the day, members of the Christian-Muslim Dialogue Committee of Lebanon and the members of the Executive Committee of the Middle East Council of Churches joined the assembly to discuss the role of interreligious dialogue in the current geopolitical conditions of the Middle East. The participants took turns to share their opinions and reflections, and concentrated the discussion on the importance of speaking the same language while in dialogue, especially where violence prevails due to rejection of the other.
At this meeting, His Holiness Aram I gave his pontifical speech where he welcomed the newcomers, summarized the main points of the 8th round of the Religious Dialogue and talked about the uniqueness of the Lebanese model of co-existence.
