Address by the President of the Republic of Macedonia, His Excellency, Dr. Gjorge Ivanov at the closing of the 3rd World Conference on Inter-religious and Inter-civilization dialogue


Distinguished Participants,
Respected Excellences,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear Friends,

It is my great pleasure and honour to greet you this evening in Skopje, the Republic of Macedonia, at the Third World Conference on Dialogue among Religions and Civilisations.

Today we are reaping the fruits of the seeds sown a decade ago. Seeds that were planted with the Ohrid Message on Peace and Dialogue among Civilisations initiated by President Boris Trajkovski.

Dear Participants,

It is said that, out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks, and our thoughts steer our words and actions. In the last decade of the 20th century, the Balkans were an argument used to support the thesis of clash among civilisations. Divisions, isolation and conflicts in this part of the world, unfortunately, were used as vivid illustrations of the alleged restlessness among civilisations and religions.

Ten years ago, significant change occurred in the hearts and minds of the people of our multi-ethnic and multi-religious region. If we talked about conflict in the recent past, today we are speaking of dialogue among civilisations and religions.

We also managed to complement the words with actions. In the past six years, by organising the three world conferences, Republic of Macedonia showed that it may sit various religions at the same table. Since actions stems from thought, I expect this dialogue will give birth to specific actions to the benefit of our children. However, cooperation, as well as dialogue, will not happen by itself. We have a lot more to do.

Respected participants,

This world may not develop without the foundation of the ethical and moral values embodied in the world religions. Values that lead to the great truth that people should treat the others the same way they would like themselves to be treated.

This is far from easy in a world where the binary paradigm still dominates: me against you; us against you; ours against yours. Separation, that is often source of alienation, exclusion and division among the nations. Separation incorporating the reason of fear, hatred and conflict among civilisations and religions.

It is well known that the basic dichotomy in most of the world religions is that of good and evil. The problem arises when man begins identifing evil with another man, with another nation, culture and civilisation.

St. Augustine says that "one should love the sinner, and hate the sin". I would add that one should love, respect and value man, irrespective of his origin, his ethno-cultural and religions identity. One should respect the human dignity of each individual. We must fight the distorted dichotomy of people's relations with the respect of diversity.

Macedonia has long-lasting tradition in this field. At the core of that is the experience of our multi-ethnic, multi-lingual and multi-religious society which has secured peaceful co-existence of religions. This tradition of coexistence and religious tolerance has created solid friendships between people of different religions. And as a result, Macedonia is one of the rare countries in Europe where Orthodox Christians and Muslims worship God under the same roof. These are places where religions not only meet, but also overlap in space and time.

Reminiscing of such deep Macedonian tradition, I feel discomfort that the representatives of the Islamic religious community is not participating at this conference for the first time. We should communicate. I have said and will say it again: one who communicates, also integrates.

I will give you another example. This evening we are in the Museum of the Macedonian Struggle. All official religions have been present here in the centre of Skopje. Orthodox Christians, and Catholic Christians, and Muslims, and Jews. In this microcosm of religious pluralism, the Mother of the 20th century was born, Mother Theresa. Here, in Skopje, she learned and lived the humanism, the tolerance and the dialogue. I believe that such environment, inspired her noble mission.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

23 centuries ago, Diogenes walked with the lamp in daytime, looking for the Man. We do not know whether the famous cynic managed to find the honest Man. However, we know that three centuries after Diogenes, through the parable of the good Samaritan, Jesus Christ gave the answer who is our fellowman.

Our fellowman does not have to be of our own ethnic group, nor speak the same language, nor have the same tradition as our own. It is above all, the merciful Man. Man who may conquer ethnic, religious and cultural differences and reach the one who needs help. Man capable to overcome prejudice in order to help the other, different and diverse.

The holy books of all world religions emphasize that all people and nations have the same origin, and should live together. Contemporary science affirms that. I believe, that this is sufficient for us to strive in our lives for peace, harmony and mutual understanding.

Today, we are truly searching for our fellowman. Hence, we have gathered at this Third World Conference on Dialogue among Religions and Civilisations. What drives us is not the lamp of Diogenes, but the desire to leave our children a better world. World, where human dignity will be respected. World where everyone will enjoy the freedom of religion, of confession.

All we are doing today leads in essence to the rule that we should love our neighbors as ourselves.

Dear Friends,

We may read different books, and we may go to different religious temples. We may have different perceptions and understanding of the nature of God. Be we all want dialogue, cohabitation and tolerance. We want our children to live in a world free of fear in uncertainty.

Our focus must be on the youth, who are our future. Therefore, upon my proposal, today for the first time within the Conference we organised the Youth Forum, dedicated to the role of religions in regards to the creation of tolerant young people. Youth for the Future and Future for the Youth is my motto, and at the same time is the focus of the 11th Forum of the Dialogue among Civilisations. Forum that will have its 10-year Anniversary gathering in Struga. I am convinced it is the only way to prepare them for living in our pluralistic societies.

Living together through respecting differences is a necessity. Irrespective of ethnic, confessional or linguistic affiliation, we must care for each other, for our homes, neighbourhoods, our towns and cities, the states and regions where we come from. Let us take care of our neighbour, and if he prospers, we too will have peace, well-being and prosperity.

With that invitation, at the end, I would like to thank you for your participation, dedication and contribution to the efforts for freedom, peace, development and human dignity.

Thank you.