(Berlin) The Conference organised by the Council of Europe ,“How can interreligious engagement help to reinvigorate the European democracies?”, has started at the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. Around the table, leaders from the main religions in Europe. “This conference comes at an important time for Europe and for democracy”, the Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Bjørn Berge, said as he opened the Conference. For some time now, the Council of Europe has been warning against the increasing regression of democracy in many regions of Europe, he went on, while now “populism is threatening social cohesion and the democratic fabric.

Next to the many initiatives that the Council is upholding, the Berlin’s Conference aims at “asking leaders of religious communities how to fight the democratic regression that we see”. And he added: “Learning from your experiences of interreligious dialogue how to introduce a mode and a spirit of dialogue and a search for compromise that can help build less polarised societies”. According to Berge, “interreligious dialogue needs to be encouraged for it to have a cascade effect”, mobilising communities and people. “We can provide the context to kick off such an exchange but we need you”, the Deputy Secretary General concluded, because “the talents and abilities” carried by your religions are precious to defend democracy itself.