The interreligious meeting promoted by the Spanish Episcopal Conference brought together leaders of the main religious confessions present in the country to pray and express their commitment to the defense of life.
The hall of the Teresian Association in Madrid hosted this noon the interreligious meeting Artisans of life and hope driven by the Episcopal Subcommission on Interconfessional Relations and Interreligious Dialogue of the Spanish Episcopal Conference with the aim of extolling the sacred value of every human life and recalling the inestimable dignity of every person in every circumstance, whether poor or disabled, whether "useless" - such as the unborn - or "no longer useful" - such as the elderly.
The representatives of the different religious denominations spoke along these lines: Juan Carlos RamchandaniThe president of the Hindu Federation of Spain, was the first to take the floor to recall the need for cooperation between confessions in the times we are going through.
It has also been the central idea of the intervention of Moshe BendahanPresident of the Rabbinical Council of Spain and Rabbi of the Jewish Community of Madrid, who highlighted the Old Testament figure of Joseph as the man who went through different stages in his long life always with his trust in God.
Against the euthanasia law
More concrete were the interventions of P. Andrey Kordochkinrepresentative of the Orthodox confessions and that of Msgr. Luis ArgüelloAuxiliary Bishop of Valladolid and Secretary General of the EEC, who focused their intervention on the need to defend life in all its stages. In particular, they referred to euthanasia, whose promotion the government wants to accelerate in the recently presented law.
Andrey Kordochkin recalled that human dignity is inviolable and that the "body of the dying person is neither the property of science nor of the state" and that it is necessary to provide comfort and palliative means that respect his life. Bishop Argüello also spoke along these lines, stressing that "weakness reminds us of our dependence on God and invites us to respond with respect for our neighbor.
Finally, Alfredo Abad de las HerasPresident of the Executive Committee of the Spanish Evangelical Church, and Mohamed Ajana, Secretary of the Islamic Commission of Spain have called for unity to alleviate the consequences that the pandemic is having in our society and in the defense of life.
To conclude, the following manifesto was read and signed by all the representatives:
Artisans of life and hope
The different religious traditions that have gathered in Madrid on this morning of December 11, 2020, wish to express our desire to collaborate in the construction of a renewed humanity in dialogue and reciprocal listening with the different fields of knowledge, so that the light of Truth may illuminate all men and women who inhabit our world.
Together we wish to proclaim our firm conviction that violence and terrorism are opposed to the true spirit of our religions. And in the face of this we condemn any return to violence in the name of God or religion.
As "architects of peace and fraternity" we commit ourselves to collaborate in the education of people in mutual respect and esteem, so that we can build a new fraternity and social friendship.
We commit ourselves to be close to those who suffer because of misery and abandonment and to make our own the cry of the discarded of our society, recognizing in the other always a brother.
We ask the leaders of nations and our rulers to build a society based on the inviolable value of human life and the dignity of the person, and to reject laws that threaten it. Today we are particularly concerned about the passage of the euthanasia law. In the face of this, we advocate for adequate legislation on palliative care.
We are open to dialogue at all levels so that society also takes into account our vision of the human being and of the world, so that we can enrich ourselves.
We adhere to the Document on Fraternity, assuming together "the culture of dialogue as a way; collaboration as a conduct; reciprocal knowledge as a method and criterion".
