Rev Richard Chartres was the sole representative from the Anglican Communion at the conference.
The conference was called together to debate on human rights and mutual respect across Europe, following the riots earlier in the year resulting from the cartoons published in a Danish newspaper.
The conference was chaired by the President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, and the Austrian President of the European Council, Chancellor Wolfgang Schussel.
Other religious leaders joining Bishop Chartres at the event included the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Vienna, the Chief Rabbi of Brussels, and the Dalai Lama.In Bishop Chartres’ address he told how future social peace in Europe relied heavily upon how the various faith groups were educated on relating to one another.
He said, “Faith can be a source of conflict but it can also be a resource for building mutual respect.”
He continued, “The challenge for us is to be humble enough to realise the complicity of the various parts of the Church in many of the conflicts of the past, and the potential of religious organisations to be part of the problem, especially when conflicts centre on the identity of particular groups.”
In conclusion, the Bishop of London stated the importance of combating “any tendency to demonise one another and to find the positive resources in all our spiritual traditions which are conducive to the well being of individuals in modern European society.”
