The need for promoting and protecting religious sites as places for the preservation of culture was emphasised at the 2nd Conference of the Religious Fundamentalism Monitor which opened at the Orthodox Academy of Crete in Kolymbari on 2nd July. The two-day conference was sponsored by the Metropolis of Alexandroupolis, Traianoupolis and Samothrace, by the General Secretary for Religions of the Ministry of Education, Religious Affairs and Sport, and the Orthodox Academy of Crete.
The general theme of the conference was “Fundamentalism and the Protection of Religious Monuments and Sites”, and its activities were dedicated to the untimely deceased founding member and Director of the Monitor’s Scientific Committee, Chrysostomos Stamoulis, and were open to the public.
In his introduction, the General Director of the Orthodox Academy of Crete Dr Konstantinos Zorbas noted that “these days, the need for spiritual revival and a deeper connection with our Christian values is indissolubly linked with culture, with monuments and with the historic sites which are identified with Christianity. … We can observe that people have a desire to discover spirituality and to connect with their cultural heritage (e.g. through pilgrimage and religious tourism). [This being the case] it is more necessary than ever to … create a holistic relationship between society and cultural heritage through the promotion of Christian values – especially in the European realm.”
However, Dr Zorbas said: “To those who maintain that Christian monuments primarily symbolise religious identity and not social equity, we would like to emphasise that these monuments can actually serve multiple purposes. While they may represent Christian convictions they can also inspire discussions on social justice and mutual respect, when they are approached in an interdenominational framework. By encouraging dialogue between different religious communities, we can bring to the fore common values such as empathy and the reconciliation of opposites which exist in many religious teachings and monuments, including those of Christianity.
Dr Zorbas emphasised that the aim of the conference was the preservation, the security and the promotion of sacred places and monuments, “the memorial sites as we call them … and we have very many of them here in our area, such as the Rotonda in Kissamos, but also in Selino.”
In another introductory address, Professor at the University of Erfurt Vasilios Makridis analysed the phenomenon of religious fundamentalism and its consequences for the protection of cultural monuments. According to Professor Makridis, fanaticism and intolerance are not the only historical reality, since in the past there was often peaceful coexistence between different religions. The conference would highlight examples of common places of worship, demonstrating that religious confrontation is often the result of political exploitation.
“One element which will be emphasised in the conference is that historically we observe that very often believers from different religions, i.e. from Islam, Christianity, Orthodoxy here in the Balkans, used common places of worship,” he said. “For example, St George was worshipped by Muslims as well [as Christians], which shows precisely that coexistence was not something out of the ordinary, something fantastic. It was a visible reality at the local level.
“Fundamentalism is not what many people think – that it is the only choice today because of the increased confrontation of religions, a confrontation which is often due to politicians who, as is well known in the Middle East, often use religion as a weapon.”
(Haniotika Nea, 03/07/26)