• Founding religious universities is applied in many countries of the world • Develop new illuminated programs within the education system • Corporatism in religious and civil institutions between Muslims and Christians
“Pluralism and Peaceful Coexistence in Egypt” Conference which began on Tuesday at Ain Shams University and continued for the second day at the main hall of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center in Abbasiya focused on important issues.
The opening session of the second day was headed by His Eminence Anba Ermia, Head of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center and Vice-President of the Conference, His Eminence praised Ain Shams University initiative and called on other Egyptian universities to adopt it and work in cooperation and coordination with Ain Shams University.
A number of important researches were presented by researchers from”Algeria, Lebanon, Egypt, Sweden” and discussed: “The Cultural and civilization hoard of the Egyptian People and its role in Establishing the Foundation of Coexistence , The Role of the University in Promoting Peaceful Coexistence, the Concept of Unity In the context of Egypt’s foreign policy, the multiplicity of Egypt’s religious characteristics in the Bible, the renewal of the jurisprudence discourse in light of peaceful coexistence “
Dr. Tarek Mansour rapporteur of the conference called to copy the idea of the conference in different countries especially that peaceful coexistence and pluralism is not limited to certain countries, and added that extremism and terrorism in all its forms is not related to a certain religion or gender.
In response to some opinion that Al-Azhar University presence in Egypt is a form of discrimination, he stressed that Religious universities exists in different countries of the world for the purpose of studying specialized religious sciences, as in many Western countries there are universities specialized in teaching theology. Even in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia itself, we find Islamic universities that study jurisprudence and forensic sciences for those who are interested in religious advocacy.
His Grace Anba Ermia pointed out that founding a religions complex is no longer limited to Egypt but has been implemented in a number of Gulf countries.
He also announced that due to the recent terrorist attacks on churches before Easter, Christians were allowed to pray and hold Masses in hospitals after Defense Minister Sedki Sobhi brought up this suggestion, and indeed priests went to Military hospitals amid the spirit of tolerance, love, openness and acceptance of other.
Audience, led by Prof. Aziz Aly President of the European Commission for Arab Partnership, Dean of the Faculty of Law in the Kingdom of Sweden and representative of conference participants stressed on the pivotal role of Egypt in the Arab region, especially in light of tugging and conflicts that the majority of Arab countries are going through, stressing on the ability of Egypt to lead the whole world and not only Arabs.
The participants stressed on the importance of education in eradicating extremist ideology, intolerance and racism also the need to develop new illuminated educational programs as well as the role of religious and civil society institutions in bringing Muslims and Christians closer in all aspects of life.
At the end of each session, researchers participating in the conference were awarded certificates of appreciation, and HG Anba Ermia, presented a memorial gift (an obelisk with the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center logo) to Prof. Tarik Mansour and Prof. Ahmed Zakaria Al-Shalq.
The second day of the conference was attended by artist Tarik Dessouki.
