RTCYPP News 14.3.19

Office of RTCYPP at ENORB Conference in Brussels

Executive Director of the Office of RTCYPP Salpy Eskidjian delivered the introductory speech and facilitated a case study on Cyprus and the Religious Track of the Cyprus Peace Process at the conference entitled “Religion/Belief and Conflict Resolution - Peacebuilding in an Age of Rage”, organized by the European Network on Religion and Belief (ENORB) in Brussels on 12 March, 2019. The conference brought together members of various faith communities, who together learned about and discussed the role of religion and belief in peace building.

Office of RTCYPP extends its gratitude to the organizers, participants and fellow speakers for a fruitful and inspiring conference, which gave way to new ideas, partnerships and valuable knowledge.

RTCYPP News 7.3.19

Photo Exhibitions: Swedish Dads and Cypriot Dads

On 6 March, RTCYPP attended the inauguration of the dual photo exhibition, “Swedish Dads” and “Cypriot Dads”, honoring equal parenting, organized by the Embassy Of Sweden in Nicosia.

The representatives of the RTCYPP warmly congratulated Ambassador Olsson Vrang of Sweden for this unprecedented initiative which they welcomed and greatly appreciated.

“It was a great opportunity to accompany a Greek Orthodox and Maronite Catholic priests and Turkish Cypriot Muslim Imams to view the exhibition together and listen to their own experiences of family and their appreciation of shared parenthood. “ says Salpy Eskidjian, Director of the Office of RTCYPP.

The two parallel exhibitions about modern fatherhood were Inaugurated by H.E. The Foreign Minister of Cyprus, Mr. Nikos Christodoulides and H.E. The Ambassador of Sweden, Mrs. Anna Olsson Vrang. The exhibitions will be open for the public from today until 22 March, Tuesday- Sunday 09.30-17.00 at Centre of Visual Arts and Research -CVAR.

RTCYPP News 4.3.19

Welcome meeting with Force Commander Major General Cheryl Pearce

 

Ambassador Olsson Vrang and Office of RTCYPP had a courtesy meeting with UNFICYP Force Commander Major General Cheryl Pearce at the UN headquarters to welcome her to Cyprus. Office of RTCYPP is thankful to the Major General for sharing her competence, wisdom and inspiring leadership.

RTCYPP News 17.2.19

Visit to the Church of Saint James

The representative of Archbishop Chrysostomos II of the Greek Orthodox Church of Cyprus visits the Church of St James to review the recent destruction of the historic monument in the Buffer Zone followed by a visit to the Church of St George in the same vicinity.
The visit was kindly facilitated by UNFICYP at the request of the Embassy of Sweden in Cyprus as the Auspices of the RTCYPP. Ambassador Of Sweden accompanied the Archbishop’s representative together with the Director of UNFICYP civil affairs and the Executive Director of the Office of RTCYPP.
The Religious Leaders of Cyprus express their sincere appreciation to UNFICYP and the Embassy Of Sweden for their efforts to facilitate this visit for the Archdiocese and Synodical Committee on Monuments of the Church of Cyprus.

 

RTCYPP News 13.2.19

Feast of Saint Maroun

On the occasion of St Maroun’s feast, Ambassador Of Sweden receives a gift of gratitude from the community of St Charbel on behalf of H.E Archbishop Soueif who expressed the appreciation of the Maronite Church of Cyprus to Ambassador Olsson Vrang of Sweden for her auspices to the RTCYPP and the Swedish governments continued support to the dialogue and joint efforts of the religious leaders of Cyprus for justice, peace and reconciliation.

 

Joint Statement 14.02.2019

Joint Statement of the Religious Leaders of Cyprus -14 February 2019
Historic Church of Saint James in the Buffer Zone

We, the Religious Leaders of Cyprus, received the news of the collapse of part of the St. James Church with deep pain, profoundly disappointed, for our continuous joint efforts since 2014 did not avail this tragedy. We, welcome the news that immediate attention has taken place by UNFICYP, the Technical Committee on Cultural Heritage together with the Nicosia Master Plan. We reiterate the principle that the rightful owners of all religious monuments in Cyprus should be directly involved and consulted and appreciate the dialogue with the United Nations in this regard.

With faith in God, we renew our joint plea since 2014 for the urgent need to appropriately reinforce and restore not only the historic monument of St James but also St George, both found in the green line of the Buffer Zone. The significance of a place of worship reaches far beyond the stones it is built of and its destruction disrespects our shared religious and cultural heritage.
As leaders of the five main religious communities of Cyprus, we stand together as brothers committed to ensure that all sacred places for our faithful, all places of worship that are part of Cyprus religious and cultural heritage are respected as such, cared for, protected and restored.

We are grateful for the full support of the Swedish Embassy as the auspices of the dialogue of the religious leaders for peace, known as the Religious Track of the Cyprus Peace Process (RTCYPP), for their sincere accompaniment of our cooperation and joint efforts for religious freedom.

In front of this tragedy, we ask once again for the full cooperation of all those involved and pray that the efforts of the Technical Committee on Cultural Heritage, that has agreed to take over the responsibility of these two Byzantine monuments since March 2017, are renewed with urgency with the support of all stakeholders including the rightful owner.

We hope that the upcoming meeting of the two political leaders on 26 February will provide an opportunity for them to discuss and resolve all obstacles to reinforce and restore both these historic monuments. Expressing our hope for a constructive and proactive way forward in protecting the historic monuments in the Buffer Zone, we pray to be spared from witnessing another place of worship in Cyprus fall to ruins.

H.B. Chrysostomos II
Archbishop of Nova Justiniana and All Cyprus

H.E. Dr Talip Atalay
Mufti of Cyprus

H.E. Yousef Soueif
Archbishop of the Maronite Church of Cyprus

H.E. Khoren Doghramadjian
Archbishop of the Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church of Cyprus

Rev. Father Jerzy Kraj
Latin Patriarchal Vicar

Current state of the Church of St James

Church of St James prior to 8 February, 2019

Church of St George

RTCYPP News: 29.1.19

Farewell to H.E. Ambassador Doherty

Ambassador Olsson Vrang of Sweden and RTCYPP Executive Director Eskidijan Weiderud bid farewell to departing US Ambassador Doherty, a strong supporter of the work of the Religious Track of the Cyprus Peace Process. The Office of RTCYPP wishes Ambassador Doherty all the best in her future endeavors.

 

RTCYPP News 14.1.2019

Ambassador of Sweden Anna Olsson Vrang and Director of the Office of RTCYPP Salpy Eskidjian met with H.E. Archbishop Soueif of the Maronite Church Of Cyprus. The excellent meeting discussed, among others, the current role of the religious leaders of Cyprus and the Office of RTCYPP for peace and reconciliation.

Photo credit: Ranya Najjar

RTCYPP News 14.12.2018

RTCYPP/ODIHR 2-day Training on Freedom of Religion or Belief

 
Press release by OSCE/ODIHR https://www.osce.org/odihr/406541

Twenty-three leaders and representatives of religious communities in Cyprus came together for a training event on freedom of religion or belief in Nicosia, on 11 and 12 December 2018. The event was organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) in co-operation with the Office of the Religious Track of the Cyprus Peace Process under the Auspices of the Embassy of Sweden (RTCYPP).

The training event, held in the Home for Cooperation in the United Nations Buffer Zone, focused on the nature and scope of the right to freedom of religion or belief as set out in international standards and OSCE commitments. The participants (13 men and 10 women) explored the interrelationship between the freedom of religion or belief and the freedom of expression, and the role of religious leaders and actors in creating and sustaining a culture of respect for everyone's freedom of religion or belief and other human rights.
"It is very encouraging to see the commitment of these religious leaders in Cyprus to standing up for the rights of all religious and belief communities on the island," said Kishan Manocha, ODIHR Senior Adviser on Freedom of Religion or Belief.
"Freedom of religion or belief is one of the victims of the Cyprus conflict," said Salpy Eskidjian, Executive Director of the Office of the RTCYPP. "We cannot build lasting peace without ensuring the right of everyone to freely practice their religion or belief. We therefore warmly welcome the opportunity to work with ODIHR to provide training on this very important human right to the leaders and members of the religious communities in Cyprus."

RTCYPP News 25.11.2018

Elimination of Violence against Women – 16 Days of Activism

The Office of RTCYPP launches today the social media campaign 16 Days of Activism for the Elimination of Violence against Women and Girls. During the 16 days between the International Day for Elimination of Violence against Women 25 November and International Human Rights Day 10 December, a photo series is posted on Facebook and Twitter depicting members of Cyprus’ faith communities united with messages to combat violence against women and girls. The Religious Leaders’ historic statement of 2017 condemning violence against women is brought back into focus, as it is as relevant today as on the day it was signed.

Faith communities, international organizations and local initiatives gather during these days under the overarching umbrellas of #16Days, #OrangeTheWorld, #HearMeToo and #Faith4Rights. The RTCYPP campaign will join these hashtags as part of a world-wide movement on social media and the RTCYPP website.

The Office calls on all to join the campaign and be part of the change during these 16 days as well as all other days. As long as violence against women and girls persists, the world cannot claim to be making real progress towards equality, development and peace. Women’s rights are human rights.