The International Cultural and Civilizational Forum "Traditional Values of the Peoples of the East and the Modern World" was held at the Russian-Tajik (Slavic) University in Dushanbe on April 15-16, 2024.
The event was organized by the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, the Russian-Tajik (Slavic) University, the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tajikistan and the Center for Applied Research of the Balkan Countries at Istanbul Rumeli University.
The opening ceremony was attended by representatives of diplomatic departments of foreign states, scientific organizations of Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Egypt.
With the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, Bishop Pavel of Dushanbe and Tajikistan, Rector of the Moscow Theological Academy Bishop Kirill of Sergiev Posad and Dmitrov, Chairman of the Expert Council under the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia for Interaction with the Islamic World, Hieromonk Grigory (Matrusov), Secretary of the Department of External Church Relations took part in the event from the Russian Orthodox Church relations of the Moscow Patriarchate on interreligious relations, Priest Ilia Kashitsyn, Executive Secretary of the Interreligious Council of Russia, and Deacon Zachariah Begdash, specialist of the Synodal Department for Church-Society and Media Relations.
Bishop Pavel read out the greeting of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill to the participants of the forum.
During the forum, representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church announced reports on the topic of the event. Hieromonk Grigory (Matrusov) presented a report on the effectiveness of strategic Islamic-Christian cooperation as a necessary condition and factor for security and stable global development, in which he spoke about the main directions of modern interaction between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Islamic Ummah.
Priest Ilia Kashitsyn, in the framework of the report "The activities of the Russian Orthodox Church in Russia and abroad to strengthen interreligious and interethnic peace," spoke about the history of the dialogue between Orthodoxy and Islam and the main modern platforms for such a dialogue. Deacon Zachariah Begdash, who delivered the report "The Unity of Russian Religions in the protection of traditional moral values" on the second day of the forum, spoke about the interaction of traditional religions of Russia in the preservation of spiritual and moral values and the role of the Russian Association for the Protection of Religious Freedom in this work.
Within the framework of the forum, the opening ceremony of the Primakov Center for Russian Diplomacy was held, whose tasks include analyzing world politics, training personnel for the diplomatic service, as well as assistance in strengthening international cooperation based on mutual understanding and respect.
Following the results of the forum, a declaration was adopted in which the participants expressed their intention to strengthen Russian-Tajik cooperation in the field of protection of traditional spiritual and moral values of both countries.