Fruitful High-Level Meeting of the Religious Leaders of Cyprus 19.3.19
Religious Leaders of Cyprus working together under the framework of the Religious Track of the Cyprus Peace Process, known as RTCYPP for short, reiterate their staunch commitment to their dialogue and cooperation.
The five main religious leaders of Cyprus had a fruitful meeting this morning facilitated by the Office of the RTCYPP, at the Swedish Residence in Nicosia hosted by the Ambassador of Sweden, they observed a one minute silence in memory of all innocent lives lost as a result of indiscriminate terror attacks, in particular the Muslim faithful who perished because of the shootings at the two Mosques in New Zealand on Friday.
The gathering of the Religious Leaders started with a joint site visit to the recently collapsed Church of St James kindly facilitated by UNFICYP where they witnessed with deep sadness the current state of the Church. The Religious Leaders welcomed all efforts to ensure the soonest possible reinforcement and eventual restoration of the historic Churches of St James and St George without further delay.
In front of growing polarization, Islamophobia, Christianophobia, and Anti-Semitism the religious leaders discussed the significant role of religion and faith in conflict resolution, conflict transformation and peacebuilding. In the midst of despair and frustration, the religious leaders agreed to remain focused on positive signs and their joint resolve to build trust, promote understanding and nurture hope. They unanimously agreed to further strengthen their joint efforts and activities for religious freedom, human rights and reconciliation in Cyprus.
