HOLY SITES – PLACES FOR CONFLICT OR DIALOGUE STIKLESTAD – TRONDHEIM, NORWAY 26-28 JULY 2008

Trondheim & Stiklestad – From 26-28 July 2008 a Conference was held at the invitation of the “Oslo Center for Peace and Human Rights”, and the organization “One World in Dialogue” in Stiklestad – Trondheim, Norway, bringing together religious leaders, academics, politicians and representatives of ngo’s in order to discuss the issue “Holy sites – places for conflict or dialogue”. The aim of this first meeting was to be a first step in a process which can lead to a universally shared ‘Code on Holy Sites’.

Participants have discussed conflicts and problems relating to Holy Sites, especially in the Balkans (Kosovo), Turkey and the Holy Land, because indeed the access to holy sites – which is fundamental to freedom of religion – is often hindered by issues relating to security and borders.

His All-Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew was represented by His Grace Bishop Athenagoras of Sinope (Belgium) and the Patriarchate of Serbia by His Grace Bishop Teodosije (Abbot of the Decani Monastery). Another orthodox christian present was Prof. Dr. Ivan Zhelev Dimitrov, director of religious affairs of the Bulgarian Council of Ministers. Among the organizers was Rev. Kjell Magne Bondevik, former Prime Minister of Norway.

His Grace Bishop Athenagoras of Sinope presented the challenges orthodox Christians see regarding equal access to Holy Sites, especially the situation in Turkey, “where our Church was founded in the very time of the Apostles. It is the place of the seat of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Centre of Orthodoxy. It was in that area that the 7 Ecumenical Councils took place. It was in that area that many of the great fathers of the Church lived: among them I mention the great Cappadocians. It is the place of thousands of saints. It was the place where monasticism got it’s development: let’s think of the Stoudion Monastery in Constantinople. But also where our liturgical and artistic tradition got an important development: in the Great Church of Christ, the Agia Sophia”. And he continued by saying: “Today, I am here to tell you that Agia Sophia stands as the greatest testimony to serve as an international tourist attraction. Where once potentates and patriarchs, prelates, saints and sinners moved in solemn procession, tourists now loiter and stare. The images looking down from the walls are no longer the windows to heaven, but silent witnesses to profanity. Gone are the chanting priests. Gone too are the smells and the bells of the East. No longer do the cherubim descend to accompany and to praise the Holy Mysteries. The Great Church is little more than a mound of architecturally ordered stones devoid of the life of the liturgy”.

He ended up by saying that the Ecumenical Patriarchate has first of all the priority for religious freedom: “nobody can deny that the Ecumenical Patriarchate has a long experience of peaceful cohabitation. We are in a dialogue with Turkish government officials regarding the state of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Among the host of issues – there are several ones – I bring to this dialogue only those ones directly related to our subject: 1. the legal recognition to the Ecumenical Patriarchate as a legitimate, independent entity; 2. freedom for educating and training its own clergy; 3. all aspects of basic property rights”.

Among the participants it’s worth to mention the names of: His Beatitude the Syrian Patriarch Mor Ignatius Zakka I Ivas, His Beatitude the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Michel Sabbah, representatives of the Catholicos of the Apostolic Church of Armenia; Ms. Ozlem Turköne, member of the Turkish Parliament; leaders of the Jewish and Muslim Communities in Jerusalem, the Balkan, Turkey… and personalities and staff from Norway.