Brussels 3 – 6 December 2024. Meetings

As every year, the Secretary General of the Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy (IAO), Member of the Hellenic Parliament, Dr. Maximos Charakopoulos, participated in the European Prayer Breakfast of the European Parliament on 4 December, along with the IAO Advisor Dr. Kostas Mygdalis.

This year’s European Prayer Breakfast was well-attended by political and EU leaders, civil society and religious representatives. The theme of the meeting was: “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” (2 Corinthians 3:17). The prayer breakfast was followed by a panel discussion on Safeguarding Religious Freedom in Europe: Current challenges and future prospects.

A high-level discussion on how to safeguard religious freedom in Europe and promote respect for religious beliefs at European and national level. Religious freedom – the right to seek the truth and to live according to one’s beliefs – is a precious human right and a fundamental part of European identity. However, growing religious intolerance in Europe is increasingly challenging this right.

Mr. Costas Mavrides, Member of the European Parliament (Cyprus), co-organizer of the European Prayer Breakfast team, addressed the participants and wished them a Merry Christmas.

During the visit to Brussels, a meeting was held with representatives of the organizations that signed the “Thessaloniki Appeal”. The meeting was attended by the Secretary General of the IAO, Dr. Maximos Charakopoulos, the President of COMECE, Bishop Mariano Crociata, the Secretary General of COMECE, Fr. Manuel Barrios Prieto, the Secretary General of the Conference of European Churches (CEC), Frank-Dieter Fischbach, the Coordinator of “Together for Europe”, Mr. Gerhard Pross, Ms. Maria Wienken from the “Focolare” Movement, Mr. Jeff Fountain, Director of the “Robert Schuman” Center for European Studies, as well as the IAO Advisor Dr. Kostas Mygdalis.

During the meeting, the head of the IAO focused on the need to re-establish the “Intergroup on Freedom of Religion or Belief and Religious Tolerance” in the European Parliament. He underlined the importance of the existence of this specific group, which will contribute to the implementation of initiatives and actions that highlight the Christian roots and the Christian element of the European continent.

In addition, the possibilities of organizing two important events on the premises of the European Parliament in 2025 were discussed: the first for the 75th anniversary of the Schuman Declaration and the second for the 1700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea.

Finally, The IAO Secretary General called on the representatives of the other organizations to work together to highlight the need for the EU to protect the Christian population in the Middle East, given the tragic developments in Syria and the critical situation of the Christian community following the swift advance of the jihadists.

After the meeting, the IAO Secretary General stated: “In coordination with the organizations with which we have signed the “Thessaloniki Appeal for Christian Values”, we are working to highlight the Christian traditions of Europe. In this direction, we are planning joint events in 2025 at the EU headquarters, which will concern the 1700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea, as well as the Christian backgrounds of the fathers of the European vision, on the 75th anniversary of the Schuman Declaration. At the same time, I proposed the drafting of a joint letter to the Vice-President of the European Commission and High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Ms. Kaia Kallas, for the EU’s more active intervention in the protection of Christians in Syria, who are under threat of extinction, following the sudden advance of the jihadists.”

The head of the IAO had a meeting with the MEP and co-chair of the European People’s Party Working Group on Intercultural and Interreligious Dialogue, Mr. Vangelis Meimarakis. During their meeting, the IAO Secretary General emphasized: “Europe has a historical and moral duty to protect the suffering Christian population in Syria and in the Middle East as a whole. In these critical moments, no negligence and delay are allowed. The onslaught of the jihadists threatens, without exaggeration, to eliminate the Christian element in areas where Christianity has been present since the time of the Apostles. The EU and the member states have an obligation to listen to the anguished appeals of the local Churches and intervene with all the diplomatic means at their disposal, especially with those who support the actions of the Islamists, so that the undesirable scenario of the extinction of Christian communities does not occur, as such a development could hardly be modified later”.

On the sidelines of the visit, a meeting was held with the Member of the European Parliament Mr. Manolis Kefalogiannis, as well as with Mr. Fearghas O’Beara, Head of the Administrative Policy Team of the European Parliamentary Research Service (IPRS).

On the day of Saint Nicholas, the head of the IAO attended the festive Liturgy at the celebrating Greek Orthodox Church in Brussels. After the Liturgy, he had a meeting with the Metropolitan Athenagoras of Belgium and Exarch of the Netherlands and Luxembourg, in the presence of the assistant Bishop Ioakeim of Apollonia, whom he informed about the planned actions of the interparliamentary institution for the upcoming year.