M. Bolaris: Your Eminence, honourable Ministers, Venerable Fathers, Representatives of the dogmas and the Churches in Athens, Your Excellencies in the Diplomatic Corps who honour us today with your attendance, dear Rapporteurs, Ladies and Gentlemen. I owe a special thanks to the country’s Prime Minister, Mr. Alexis Tsipras, and to the two Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Nikos Kotzias and Giorgos Katrougalos, with the assistance, guidance, and support of whom we have arrived here, for the purpose of discussing an especially important and interesting issue, which does not just concern our country, but an issue of broader interest, as the Minister of Foreign Affairs Giorgos Katrougalos stated earlier during his speech, and as the Prime Minister mentioned in his opening speech a short while ago. Socrates was the first person in history who urged us to turn to knowledge and to consult experts, specialists, in order to know what is the most beneficial of what is beneficial, and to be able to proceed with our lives. And this during a period that possessed its own simplicity and did not possess the complexity of our own globalised society, with overlaps and the need for specialisation.So today, the Hellenic Ministry of Foreign Affairs turns to the knowledge of specialists, of whom it requests, with their own contribution, that they describe an issue, the issue of ecclesiastical relations, the issue of ecclesiastical diplomacy, so that their priorities can be laid down, their preferences, and their requirements. What do they request of the country? What do they request of Diplomacy? How can we also work together on the level of Athens, as well as on a global level? The challenge arose from a dire reality. Indeed, we live in a universe in which distances have been reduced; trips that used to last months are now completed in a few hours, and we all have at our disposal, at any moment, up-to-the-minute communication and information. But in this globalised universe of reduced distances and immediate information, knowledge, communication, age-old problems remain in human relations, in the relations between society and in the relations between countries with interests, with conflicts, clashes, massacres, blockades, wars, hunger, immigration, displacement, exile, inability to access school or to access healthcare, or even water. For this reason, therefore, the problems that concern the mankind which were broached by our ancient philosophers have concerned and continue to concern every religion, every denomination, the State and politicians, these issues which continue to torture us and concern us in our daily lives. We are jointly responsible, states and organisations. And in this joint responsibility, we always come together, citizens and politicians with the Church, with the churches, denominations, dogmas, and daily interventions alongside man. Unfortunately, we also come across obstacles in this meeting. Problems. We comes across fanaticism. We come across intolerance. We come across massacres and extermination carried out in the name of God. Protagoras had proposed to the Greeks, 2,500 years ago, that the measure of all things is man. And this is very important since our ambition, both in Greece and in Europe, and in the whole world, is indeed for man to be promoted as a measure for judging everything that takes place in our lives. A measure of progress, a measure of growth. A measure for the environment. A measure for education. A measure for understanding. All these major issues that unfailingly and continuously concern humanity represent the great challenge. A great challenge for politics and politicians. A great challenge for the Church, for religion, for people, for the leader, for the shepherds, for all those who profess their faith, for all who claim to be interested in man, to be interested in coexistence, to be interested in a common journey. At this point I would like to remind that black clouds loom over Europe, threatening clouds; clouds that are reminiscent of the beasts that repeatedly caused bloodshed in Europe, with millions of deaths. And it is very important, as we are discussing ecclesiastical diplomacy, religious diplomacy, that we are talking about man who must be the measure of everything, man who is developing in an environment of democracy, understanding, peace, reconciliation, to remember that, due to wrong policies and fanaticism, large groups of society are led to extremes; and this is a threat. And we are discussing this threat here today, on the occasion of ecclesiastical diplomacy, on the occasion of the love that churches proclaim, as we head towards European elections in the near future. You will permit me, therefore, to stress that it is our responsibility as citizens, as politicians, to remain alert for man, for society, for democracy, and to act as Prometheus and not Epimetheus. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in representing our country, Greece, took the initiative during the last five months of organising a series of meetings for dialogue, of which four took place in Athens and one in Thessaloniki. To these meetings which prepared for this conference, we invited people of the Church, people of the various dogmas, of religion, to come forward and tell us their opinion. What are the issues that concern citizens today, social groups, religious people, churchgoers in Greece? What are the perceptions of what is taking place around us in the Balkans, the Mediterranean, Europe, in the world? This process of meeting, discussing, assimilating, understanding has borne fruit. The question posed was a simple one. A simple question in the complexity that the issue and the problem possesses. What do you require from the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs related to the problems that concern you? With regard to the whole network, not simply interchurch relations, not simply interfaith relation, but also on the level of your relationship with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Do we need to learn what you need from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ extraordinary Diplomatic Service across the globe? What do you believe that Greek Diplomacy must do with regard to these issues? What is your proposal? And when we take it a step further, what do you propose that it be? What do you propose that the principles of the policy be with which the country must exercise ecclesiastical diplomacy? And what are your proposals? If you believe that a strategy must exist, let's proceed with actions and let’s not simply remain on dialogue and proposals. What do you believe we must do? How can this invaluable Diplomatic Corps of our country and of other countries best be utilised? On what type of synergies, so that we are able to intervene in the current and crucial problems, do your antennae, your sensibility, your speculation pick up on? To whom did the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reach out? We followed the example of Socrates, to whom I referred in my introduction, and we contacted specialists. Because we contacted Churches, denominations, and not simply due to their theological knowledge, not simply due to the centuries of experience in space and time, but also thanks to their expansive network in countries and on continents. And mainly because they were, and continue to be, at the heart of the problems, and hunger, and conflict, and war, and poverty, and lack of health, lack of water, fanaticism, massacres. Because they were, and continue to be, at the heart of the problems, they have the knowledge, they have the information, they have the experience to prove to be invaluable interlocutors in this undertaking, in the initiative on the effective exercise of religious diplomacy, in order to serve man. I could have an endless list, to mention problems, highlight problems, and condemn problems and issues. It would be impossible for it to be exhaustive because we have these problems every day, in very many places across the globe. This is why I listed examples, that I mentioned briefly, which are included in our daily speech anyway. Whether this be ancient Christian communities who struggled and continue to struggle in the Middle East, or whether it be the massacres of the faithful of every religion, in every part of the world, or infringement of religious liberties, basic liberties. And this is why I feel that it is especially crucial, the fact that the United States and Europe and every country that believes in democracy and human values, focus on and push for the issues to be resolved which pertain to religious liberties, which are able to be resolved through numerous actions and through the exercise of religious diplomacy.We seek, therefore, to restate and update the principles of exercising religious diplomacy. Here, I shall pay tribute to Maximus the Confessor who proposes the following, which is particularly important: Referring to theological conflicts, he states that we should not quarrel over issues of terminology to the point that the words end up having the same meaning, the same content for everybody. This is why this two-day conference is being held, to which we have the honour to welcome you, you who are the experts according to Socrates, the Good Samaritans of the Bible, who are at the source, at the crux of the problem around the world, it is useful not to quarrel over an “empty tunic,” but for thoughts to be recorded, observations, objections, allegations, exhortations, complaints, suggestions, proposals, in order for us to be led to a field of synergies, cooperation, a common point of view, dialogue, mutual understanding, in order to have a common initiative for tackling the major as well as the more minor issues that concern our fellow man, the “man who came into the hands of thieves;” in other words the man who toils every day, the daily struggle, as they are approached by the Church, by religion, in the complex, sophisticated society of the 21st century on our planet. Let's turn the floor over to the experts, to you, for these two days; with the critical observation that we are not turning the floor over to you just once. It is not just for today and tomorrow. We want continued synergy, meetings, cooperation. Our desire is to establish open channels of communication. I confess to you that we need you. I gather that you, too, need the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its central services, as well as its services spread across the globe, its excellent diplomatic presence. We all need a continuous communication of cooperation, with man at its epicentre. You will permit me to update you that we have already organised the management of everything your wisdom, your foresight, your expertise will submit during this two-day conference. A group of experts will manage everything that has been submitted, to be passed on to the services of the Ministry, so that we have a resume thereof, which will be distributed to the diplomatic authorities and services of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We want everything you say to first be disclosed to our diplomats, for their own knowledge, for them to take advantage of your experience, and subsequently, in the form of a book, to provide it to interested parties, to public opinion, in Greece and elsewhere. In closing, I must express my thanks, first of all to the Prime Minister and the two Ministers under the guidance of whom the two-day conference was organised. I would like to express my gratitude to his Excellency the Archbishop of Athens for his blessing and his attendance today, and for his opening speech; and each of you, the Ministers who gave their time today to be present, the representatives of the Patriarchates, the excellent diplomats that serve our country, and we thank them for the collaborations with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We will request synergies of them in the field which we are discussing today, also; all the representatives of the dogmas and the churches and religions. I would especially like to thank the General Secretary of the World Council of Churches, for sending a message through a representative, and the Conference of European Churches for the message that was read by the Metropolitan Bishop of Sweden. In conclusion, my thanks to all who for months now have fought, and who will fight today and tomorrow, for the excellent organisation of the two-day conference, the Protocol Department, the Diplomatic Academy, my Office, and the volunteers. Much work was required from people who are familiar with the arena, who have the knowledge and experience so that we can have the best possible outcome. Thank you very much. Good luck.
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