Religious and political leaders must meet challenges together

PanARMENIAN.Net - His Holiness Catholicos Aram I of the Armenian Church-Catholicate of Cilicia took part in the "4th Summit of religious leaders on the occasion of the G8" on June 16-17, timed to the forthcoming meeting of the "Great Eight" in Rome, press office of the Catholicate of Cilicia told to PanARMENIAN.Net Aram I opened a summit and after greeting representatives of different religious confessions held a keynote speech.



"Religious and political leaders must meet together challenges the humanity faces today, since one-sided approaches cannot guarantee the long-term solutions to the world problems," Aram I said. Issues of the global economic crisis and security were discussed at the summit. Italian prime minister Silvio Berluskoni made an address to summit participants.



Religious leaders from more than 20 countries gathered in Italy. The Summit started with a visit to L'Aquila, the central Italian city severely damaged by an earthquake on April 6. Nearly 130 religious leaders and diplomats, Catholics, Muslims, Protestants, Orthodox, Hindus, Anglicans, Zoroastrians, Jews, Shintoists and Buddhists, held two days of talks. This was the religious leaders' fourth annual meeting, following those held in conjunction with earlier G8 summits in Moscow, Cologne and Sapporo.