World Summit of Religious Leaders

Unofficial translation from Russian

PRESS RELEASE

A World Summit of Religious Leaders was held in Moscow on July 3-5 under the aegis of the Interreligious Council of Russia and the Russian Orthodox Church. Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov took part in its work.

The forum gathered the representatives of the world's leading religions: Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Buddhism and also leaders of a number of influential interreligious international organizations - the World Conference of Religions for Peace, the World Council of Churches and the Conference of European Churches.

President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin and Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy II delivered welcoming addresses at the opening of the Summit.

Forum participants exchanged opinions on matters relating to the role of religion in contemporary society, the defense and affirmation of spiritual and moral values, and the search of ways to counter extremism and terrorism.

At the end of the Summit's work, a Message to the leaders of the G8 countries and to political, public and religious organizations was adopted, constituting a powerful appeal for a dialogue among civilizations, cultures and religions before the global challenges of today.

July 5, 2006