Abstract: În data de 22 noiembrie 2021, la Oslo, Comitetul „14 august” din Norvegia a acordat părintelui profesor Ioan Sauca, Secretarul general al Consiliului Mondial al Bisericilor (CMB), premiul „Brobyggerprisen” – Bridge Builder Award. Acelaşi premiu l-au primit și Michael Melchior, Rabin-șef al Norvegiei și lider al Inițiativei pentru Pace Religioasă din Israel, și liderul musulman Muhammad Bin Abdul Karim Al-Issa.
Cuvinte-cheie: Consiliul Mondial al Bisericilor; Preot Ioan Sauca; Comitetul „14 august” din Norvegia; premiul „Bridge Builder”
Summary: The acting head of the World Council of Churches, Rev. Fr. prof. dr. Ioan Sauca was among three international religious leaders who were honoured with a “Bridge Builder” Award for their role in building bridges of understanding between people, communities and nations. The award, which was given by the Jury of the 14th August Committee Norway together with The Oslo
Center, was this year given to Rev. prof. dr. Ioan Sauca, the acting general secretary of the WCC, along with Michael Melchior, chief rabbi and leader of The Religious Peace Initiative in Israel, and Muhammad Bin Abdul Karim Al-Issa of the World Muslim League. As the Bridge Builder Awards were presented in a ceremony in Oslo on November 22, 2021, interreligious peacemakers stood together to be recognized for their vital work in raising the values of respect, love, and tolerance for each other. In welcoming remarks, Aamir Javed Sheikh, the president of the 14th August Commitee Norway, said that this is not and has never been a battle between the Jews and the Christians, Christians against the Muslims or Muslims against the Jews: “But this has been a struggle between us who want to stand together and build bridges, and those who want to create divisions and hatred between us. It is our job to fight for a world that sees you for who you are and not just the God you worship. It is simply our task to shape a world where respect, dialogue and tolerance are central”.
Rev. Fr. Ioan Sauca said at the ceremony that the WCC had formally established an office to oversee its work in inter-religious dialogue and cooperation in 1971 and that, since then, the WCC was aware that almost all the world’s steepest challenges have an international and interreligious dimension: “Whether we are addressing international affairs, the environment, global economic justice, the rights of women and children, racism, the needs of refugees, and, not least, the task of theological education within our churches, in all these and other aspects of our work we seek
to keep today’s inter-religious realities in mind… In our global situation, our work in inter-religious dialogue, cooperation and peacemaking holds the prospect of a genuine fraternity among religious communities to address conflicts but also to prevent them, to make and keep peace but also to root it in the hearts of the people. Nonetheless, the challenges posed by interreligious encounter also push us to address many tough questions. We cannot pretend that the path of interreligious dialogue, cooperation and peacemaking is an easy one. But this is where God calls us to go, trusting in God’s accompaniment of us, and in God’s good purposes for the whole of creation”.
Dr. Ştefan Mărculeț – redactor în cadrul departamentului „Actualitatea religioasă” a Ziarului Lumina (Mitropolia Ardealului) și doctor în Teologie al Facultății de
Teologie Ortodoxă „Andrei Șaguna” din cadrul Universității „Lucian Blaga” din Sibiu;
e-mail: stefan.marculet@gmail.com
