BAKU, November 14. /TASS/. Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia has urged global religious leaders to appeal to state leaders, urging them to stop resolving their geopolitical objectives at the expense of weaker nations.
"The religious leaders can and should appeal to political leaders in a unified voice," the patriarch told the 2nd Baku Summit of World Religious Leaders.
"It is time to explicitly speak about putting an end to the practice of solving geopolitical tasks at the expense of weaker — and this includes weak nations — it’s time to stop squandering energy resources, and dividing nations of the globe into first, second and third rate [ones]," Patriarch Kirill insisted.
"It would be good to see that the more developed and richer states realize their responsibility for the future of mankind. They must act as the guarantors of safety and stability instead of dictators for the global order," he emphasized.
"As practice has shown, imposing one state’s rules, borders and culture on others does not lead to anything good. Distinctiveness and freedom of peoples is a guarantee of their safe and peaceful coexistence," he stressed.
It is high time to put an end to the predatory exploitation of the environment. "It is very important to stop preying on natural resources in poor countries and polluting the environment. We are responsible for God’s work, created for the benefit of mankind, our message is an appeal to each and every person and we sincerely believe that it will be heard," the patriarch said.
Recruitment of youths by extremists
The lack of awareness of religious traditions enables extremists to spread their theories among young people, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia said on Thursday.
"We must admit that a war is being waged against traditional religions. It is being waged in the cities and villages, across the media landscape, but, most importantly, in the hearts and minds of the people," he said at the opening ceremony of the summit in Baku, Azerbaijan. "The most dangerous thing is that members of the younger generation are fighting on the frontlines in that war. Extremist ideological organizations take advantage of the fact that young people lack life experience and are willing to uphold their views at whatever the cost. A very low awareness level, the lack of fundamental knowledge not only about other religions, but even about their own religious traditions make things even worse."
According to the patriarch, the crisis of the traditional value system creates conditions for the activities by extremist recruiters, who "easily replace secular ideas with their own ideology." "Their seeds are sown on well-prepared soil. That’s why we, as religious leaders, must not only reject and condemn extremism, but also cultivate in society the unshakable values of family, marriage, respect for elders, respect for religion and a person’s religious choice, support for the afflicted and destitute based on the Holy Scripture," he stressed.
The 2nd Summit of World Religious Leaders, which is being held in Baku on November 14-15, is timed to the 70th birthday of Chairman of the Caucasus Muslims Office (CMO), Sheikh-ul-Islam Allahshukur Pashazade and the 40th anniversary of his tenure as CMO Chairman. About 200 leaders of traditional religions from various countries were invited to take part in the event organized by the Caucasus Muslims Office and Azerbaijan’s authorities.