Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin (1968- ), Deputy Chairman of the MP Department of External Church Relations
Jeddah, 29 October 2008 (Interfax):
Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, Deputy Chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations, became the first Russian Orthodox priest in history to visit Saudi Arabia. He attended the fourth forum of the Russia-Islamic World strategic vision group held in Jeddah, 27-29 October. “Russia and the Islamic world have much in common. We are intermingled. Russia is inseparable from the Islamic world, as many millions of Muslims live there, and the Islamic world is inseparable from the Russian and Orthodox world, as so many Orthodox live in so many Muslim countries”, Fr Vsevolod said in addressing the forum.
In his opinion, the most important thing is that “we have much in common in our views on the family and society, as well as the place of religion and morals in our lives”. Fr Vsevolod noted that the Russian model of inter-religious relations involved respect to the traditions of different religions, their intrinsic way of life, and social norms related to them. “Today, this model is in demand in the world which increasingly understands that it is necessary to respect different civilisations along with their religious or secular roots, their laws, rules, social models, and political systems”, he said.
Fr Vsevolod called for mutual support of inter-religious peacemaking initiatives, in particular, the Russian proposal to organise a consultative interreligious council under the auspices of UN, and the initiative of the King of Saudi Arabia to develop interreligious dialogue, as well as measures designed to prevent the trampling of the sensibilities of religious believers proposed by the Organization of the Islamic Conference. In Fr Vsevolod’s view, Russia and the Islamic world share common challenges. This is, in particular, the attempts of some to use religious feelings to unleash national and political extremism and radicalism, to justify terror, and to reach vile mundane goals.
The other strong challenge is an attempt to induce believers, including by means of some models of “interreligious dialogue”, to reject their identity and traditions, introduce liberal reforms into their beliefs, “privatise” religion, and recognise the monopoly of secular values in the social sphere, Fr Vsevolod said. “Recently, both Orthodox and Muslims are being lectured and condescended to. We are told to abandon our ’superstitions’, recognise the supremacy of secular conceptions and secular values, and you will be an enlightened student fit for Western society”, Fr Vsevolod said.
Today, however, he said, “Convinced and firm believers understand more and more that their world outlook, way of life, laws, rules, and their model of society have no less right in the context of the world structure than the worldly Western social and ideological model. If together we are able to stand up for such a position, we will be much stronger”, Fr Vsevolod concluded.
Interfax-Religion
http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=27134 (in Russian)
