Athens, 17 March 2021

Meeting of International Secretariat, Chairpersons and Rapporteurs of Committees of Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy

MPs from 23 member states of the Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy (IAO) participated in the meeting via teleconference of the International Secretariat, the Chairpersons and Rapporteurs of the Committees of the interparliamentary organisation. 

The participating MPs exchanged views on the spreading of the COVID-19 pandemic that affected their countries and the global community and because of which all scheduled activities of the Assembly were cancelled. 

The Secretary General of the IAO, Dr. Maximos Charakopoulos briefed IAO members on the following:

- IAO cooperation with the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA), in particular the University’s “Centre for Excellence” on “Utilising Orthodox Heritage and Interreligious Dialogue”. Soon the already approved Cooperation Agreement between the IAO and the NKUA will be signed.

- The publication of the Volume of Minutes of the International Conference for parliamentary dialogue held in Beirut, 3 – 4 April 2018, on: “Diversity in Unity and Fundamental Freedoms for Christians and Muslims in the Middle East”. The soon-to-be-published Volume will be printed by the Printing Services of the Parliament and made available in four (4) languages: Greek, English, Russian and Arabic. 

- The 3rd International Photography Competition on the Hagia Sophia temples of God. This was an initiative that followed up on the proposal by the IAO Cultural Committee to preserve and promote Christian Orthodox culture. The competition will take place in cooperation with OrthPhoto.net .

- The publication of a Special Volume on: “The temples of the Wisdom of God in history and the world”: This is a study complete with abundant photographic material, focusing on presenting the historical, religious, legal and architectural aspects of the 46 temples-monuments of Hagia Sophia to the world. 

- Submitting a Proposal to the Council of Europe to establish a Cultural Route titled: “European Route of the 46 Monuments of the Hagia Sophia of God”.  The goal of this initiative is to create a cultural route with an orthodox reference, reaching all the way from Scotland across Europe to China.

- Cooperation with the Muslim World League (MWL): The MWL is an international non-governmental Islamic organisation based in the Holy city of Makkah in Saudi Arabia. The two organisations agreed to sign an MoU, which is scheduled for the end of May 2021, in the framework of a visit by the leadership of the Muslim organisation in Athens.

 

 

 

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