A State-Religious Delegation
of the Republic of Serbia is making an official visit to Indonesia from
21 to 26 October 2019 in order to participate in the Fourth Bilateral
Interfaith Dialogue between Serbia and Indonesia.
The
conference is being held in Yogyakarta, a city in southwestern
Indonesia. The State-Delegation of the Republic of Serbia arrived in
Yogyakarta on October 22, 2019.
The official meetings of the
representatives of the two countries began on Wednesday, October 23, in
the conference room of the “Meriot” Hotel in Yogyakarta. The conference
was opened and greeted by Mr. Cecep Heravan, Director General for
Information and Public Diplomacy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of
the Republic of Indonesia. In addition to the warm welcome and
introduction to the history of the city, a city where culture and
religion are in perfect harmony, Mr. Heravan recalled the importance of
the inter-religious dialogue between Indonesia and Serbia. Among other
things, he reminded those present of the first bilateral dialogue
between Serbia and Indonesia, held in 2011, which was evaluated as the
best ever held dialogue with another country. Indonesia has held
interfaith dialogue with over thirty countries for many years.
Mr.
Mirko Cikiriz, secretary of state at the Ministry of Justice of the
Republic of Serbia and head of the delegation, said, among other things,
that Serbia considers Indonesia a great and traditional friend and
important partner for cooperation. This year marks the 65th anniversary
of the establishment of diplomatic and friendly bilateral relations, and
we sincerely hope that our overall relations will develop even faster
in the future. For more than two decades, the Republic of Indonesia has
held interfaith dialogues with partner countries around the world, and
since 2011 with the Republic of Serbia,. Therefore, it is a great honor
for us to become partners in this field as well, as the Fourth
Interfaith Dialogue of our countries' delegations begins today . I
expect from the Fourth Bilateral Interfaith Dialogue the same results
that all previous dialogues have given - sharing knowledge, new
arrangements and fostering harmony of diversity, which will contribute
to the more solid, friendly relations of our countries.
The first plenary session was hold on the topic:
"Empowering women and youth towards an inclusive society"
"Empowering women and youth towards an inclusive society"
After
a break, the first plenary session on "Empowering women and youth
towards an inclusive society" was held. The welcome address was
delivered by the session moderator, Dr. Marko Nikolic, Assistant
Director at the Directorate for Cooperation with Churches and Religious
Communities, Deputy Head of Delegation and Coordinator of the Fourth
Inter-Religious Dialogue of Serbia and Indonesia. Mr. Nikolic said,
among other things, that from the religious perspective in today's
world, mostly but unwaveringly, the affirmation of the category of
"value neutrality" as a framework and response to the challenge of the
growing crisis of identity of peoples and states, and consequently, the
now existential need for their transformation , survival and
development. It is evident that the soul of the individual is
increasingly experiencing a "crucifixion" between the prevailing
secularist materialist and the anthropocentric, on the one hand, and the
theocentric spirit, on the other. Most countries in the world base
their strategies of survival and development on the "unity of diversity"
syntagm, the first stage of which comes down to economic and political
integration. In this context, it must be emphasized that the notions of
human rights, freedom, democracy, the rule of law and the rule of law,
to a greater or lesser extent, are a symbiosis of the secularized
surrogates of Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, Islamic, Judaist and other
religious values and principles, which best affirms content analysis
of their Holy Books. That is why, first and foremost, it should be borne
in mind that the "fuel for development" of the world, regardless of the
passage time category, represents "value-critical",
"value-integrative", peacemaking, social security and
individual-psychological the potential of his religious communities.
Therefore,
the Republic of Serbia is committed to affirming and promoting
inter-religious and ecumenical dialogue at all levels, as a strategic
framework and precondition for the vital reaffirmation and application
of universal ethical and moral principles in the world, consciously and
actively contributing to this process. In the context of the definitive
title of the Fourth Inter-Religious Bilateral Dialogue of Serbia and
Indonesia - Sustainable Peace and Harmony: Engaging Women, Youth and the
Media - I would just like to emphasize that "external peace and
harmony" does not exist and cannot be independent of the existence of
"internal peace" in individuals , which, again, is in the original and
most of all a consequence of their relationship with the "vertical",
which is then projected "horizontally" through a partial relationship
with the whole world and the environment. For all that said, the
Republic of Serbia, among other things, through various activities of
the Directorate for Relations with Churches and Religious Communities
within the Ministry of Justice, will continue to provide unequivocal and
active support for the affirmation of religious freedoms and the
promotion of the position of their Churches and religious communities in
society, irreplaceable and organic entities in "value integration"
processes in the Balkans, Europe, and around the world. In this regard,
it will continue to support the affirmation of the position and role of
women and young people in society, inter alia, through the media of
their religious communities.
His Grace Serbian Orthodox Bishop
Isihije of Mochacs had the first presentation. The Bishop conveyed
greetings of His Holiness Serbian Patriarch Irinej, and after the
opening address and greetings to the host and guests, he gave a
presentation on the theme: "Living together: The role of religion in
bringing people together." The Bishop's presentation was entirely in
English. His Grace emphasized that family is one of the most frequently
attacked elements of society. The natural and God-given hierarchy and
harmony of this basic unit and the building block have been challenged.
Our understanding of family comes from marriage, which is holy and
sanctified. Marriage is a permanent, free, willing community of love
between a man and a woman: "... a man will leave his father and mother
and be united with his wife, and the two will be one body" (Eph 5:31).
This mystical union of man and woman represents the Kingdom of the
Coming Age; at the same time, it is a task given to him by God - a
community in which man and woman strive for the perfection of life and
reach it in the ever-increasing degree of present life ... Respect for
traditional values in the family and in the whole society is the only
reliable and fruitful way for the world. It provides a stable
foundation, even if it comes down to only a "small flock" of believers,
and even if the secularized world rejects them, moreover, and persecutes
them. We firmly believe that believers will prevail to the end, living
and functioning truly in families. We pray to God that this esteemed
gathering serves to deepen our awareness of these values and to
further strengthen and promote them in our societies ... "
The
next speaker was the representative of the Republic of Indonesia, Ms Dvi
Rubianti Kolifa, Secretary General of the Asian Muslim Action Network.
She spoke on the topic: "Danger of dialogue or bold talk." The
presentation, aided by a video presentation, vividly evoked the position
of women in the society of the Republic of Indonesia, as well as the
challenges of internal religious dialogue.
After the discussion,
Dr. Inai Rohmani, Vice Dean for Student Affairs, and Sunah Kalijaga, an
associate at the Islamic State University, addressed the audience. The
presentation began with an attempt to understand radical groups and
religious exclusivity. Strong collective and media visibility are
crucial in promoting peace.
The next speaker was Prof. Dr.
Abdullah Numan, a Serbian Mufti, who spoke on the theme: "Developing the
Human Environment". Among other things, he said that we often forget
about the role of women in society and that it is time to start creating
a more positive atmosphere. In Islamic tradition and religious
collections, everything written about women has been written by men. The
fundamental rights of women have been violated. When a society loses
faith, then it relies on culture. The first people did not have any
political system. It was just the two of them who lived by the law of
God.
Shortly afterwards, Monsignor MA Aleksandar Konacevic, Vicar
General of the Belgrade Archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church in
Serbia, held a speech. He spoke on the topic: "Empowering women and
young people to actively engage in social activities". Among other
things, he said that the demand for "liberation" of women from the
"power" of men gave birth to an attack by feminism on the Christian
faith.
Second plenary session was held on the topic:
"Improving the role of the media and journalists in maintaining peace and harmony"
"Improving the role of the media and journalists in maintaining peace and harmony"
The
second plenary session began at 2 pm local time. The welcome address
was delivered by the moderator of the session, Eko Riyadi, Head of the
Center for Human Rights at the Islamic University of Indonesia. Among
other things, he said that the subject and purpose of this session was
to analyze the impact of social media on society and promote peace, as
well as to enhance the role of the media and journalists in maintaining
harmony. Social media, because of its great influence and importance for
the daily life of man, are a very important factor in modern society,
and can be seen as an iniciator of social change and creators of social
trends.
The first presentation of the second session belonged to
the proto-deacon Dr. Damjan Bozic, the editor-in-chief of “Orthodoxy”, a
newspaper of the Serbian Patriarchate. He spoke on the topic: “Peace
without truth: meaningless vitality”. The presentation was entirely in
English, and was divided into several sections. The term media is
defined so that after the given thesis the exhibitor tries to answer the
questions asked: Can we have peace without the truth? What is the
process of facing the truth for us ... For us people of faith we might
even call it repentance. The role of the media is to tell the truth
whatever it is, because that is the only way we can face a society that
will give the answer, good or bad, and on that basis will advance and
strive for peace or unrest. Finally, the influence and importance of the
media, as well as the shaping of a new and different social reality,
are clarified.
Following a lengthy discussion, the following
presentation on "Bridging Diversity - The Trilogy of Interreligious and
Ethnic Dialogue" was delivered by Dr. Ustadi Hamza, Lecturer at Sunan
Kalijaga Islamic State University. The presentation was aided by video
projection. Dr. Hamza clearly and precisely outlined the problems the
media is facing in the Republic of Indonesia as well as the Muslim world
in general.
Shortly afterwards, the next speaker was Fahd Pahdei,
an adviser in the Executive Office of the President of the Republic of
Indonesia and the CEO of Digi-Trope Indonesia. The presentation, also
aided by video projection, addressed the topic of the importance of the
media as helping to train and bring delinquents back on track.
After
the discussion, Mr. Bela Halas, Bishop of the Reformed Christian Church
in Serbia spoke on the topic: "The role of journalists in maintaining
peace and harmony". He said, among other things, that there were
religious and secular media in practice. The role of religious media
should be manifested in spreading peace, love and understanding among
people. They should also take care of the content so as not to intensify
extreme messages and not to cause intolerance among people. On the
other hand, the role of the world media is to report objectively on
Churches and religious communities as the media has a strong influence
on the public.
After answering questions and discussions on the
topic, a brief recapitulation of the three interfaith dialogues held by
Serbia and Indonesia so far was presented by Jovana Rakovic, Advisor for
Interfaith Dialogue in the Directorate for Cooperation with Churches
and Religious Communities of the Republic of Serbia. Also presented was
book with a collection of papers from all previous meetings entitled
"Interfaith Dialogue between Serbia and Indonesia".
His Excellency
Mohamad Chandra Vidya Juda, Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia to
Belgrade, presented a joint statement by the two delegations as a result
of today's discussions and further development of the dialogue, and the
closing address on behalf of the Republic of Indonesia went to His
Excellency Diar Nurbintor.
The closing remarks on behalf of the
delegation of the Republic of Serbia were given by Dr. Ferid Bulić,
Assistant Director in the Interfaith Dialogue Sector at the Directorate
for Cooperation with Churches and Religious Communities of the Republic
of Serbia. Dr. Bulic, among other things, said that the previous three
interfaith dialogues of the two countries show and prove that the
dialogues have great potential. We are separated by thousands of miles,
history, culture, branches of art, but faith brings us closer and points
to each other. We believe that we are in a healthy and harmonious
society based on universal values, the rule of law in which all social
actors carry out their mission. We hope and deeply believe that we will
be able to further improve the social potentials of our two countries.
***
The
State-Religious Mission of the Republic of Serbia, besides the
representatives of the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs of the Republic of Serbia, the Directorate for Cooperation with
Churches and Religious Communities, as well as representatives of
traditional Churches and religious communities, includes His Grace
Bishop Isihije of Mohacs and protodeacon Damjan Bozic, Editor-in-chief
of “Orthodoxy”, the newspaper of the Serbian Patriarchate.
The
members of the Mission are: Mirko Cikiriz, State Secretary of the
Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Serbia, head of delegation; Dr.
Marko Nikolic, Assistant Director in the sector for cooperation with
Churches and Religuous Communities, deputy head of the delegation and
coordinator of the Fourth Bilateral Interreligious Dialogue between
Serbia and Indonesia; Dr. Ferid Budic, assistant director in the Sector
for interreligious dialogue, Directorate for Cooperation with Churches
and Religious Communities; Tatjana Conic, Ambassador and Assistant
Minister for Bilateral Cooperation in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of
the Republic of Serbia; Slobodan Marinkovic, Ambassador of the Republic
of Serbia to the Republic of Indonesia; Isihije Rogić, Serbian Orthodox
Bishop of Mohacs; prof. Dr. Abdullah ef. Numan, Deputy Reisu-l-ulema of
the Islamic Community of Riyaset of the Islamic Community of Serbia and
Mufti of Serbia; Monsignor Aleksandar Kovacevic, MSc, Vicar General of
the Archdiocese of Belgrade; Mustafa ef. Jusufspahić, Mufti of Belgrade
and of the Army of Serbia; Bela Halas, Bishop of the Reformed Christian
Church; protodeacon Dr. Damjan Bozic, Editor-in-chief of Orthodoxy,
newspaper of the Serbian Patriarchate; Viktor Cvetkovic, Caritas
employee; Jovana Rakovic, Counselor for Interfaith Dialogue, Directorate
for Cooperation with Churches and Religious Communities.