Press Release No: 20/10
22 June 2020
Brussels

Religious intolerance is on the rise. Christians, Jews, Muslims and religious minorities in Europe and beyond experience more discrimination, hatred, even persecution. Hate speech is increasingly widespread. To explore these issues, CEC releases a new video, featuring impressions from participants of its 6th Summer School on Human Rights.

CEC’s 6th Summer School on Human Rights was held in Lisbon, Portugal, 2019, in cooperation with the Portuguese Christian Council of Churches (COPIC).

The new video features comments from the Summer School participants, representing various European churches, religious communities, and political institutions in Portugal. They address questions, such as what is hate speech, why is it happening, how is religion involved, and more importantly, how to put an end to hate speech, together as religious communities.

The responses in the video come from discussions held at the Summer School, inspired by the biblical premise: Ephesians 4:15-16, “But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.”

Among the interviewees are CEC President Rev. Christian Krieger, Mr Pedro Calado, the High Commissioner for Migration in Portugal, Rev. Bill Cave, Ms Hajar Al-Kaddo, Dr Vassiliki Stathokosta, Paolo Emilio Landi, Rev. Dr Patrick Roger Schnabel, Ms Julia Mozer, Dr Torsten Moritz, Dr Mike Flood, Rev. Dr Ganoune Diop and Bishop Jorge Pina Cabral.

The video has been made possible with support from Otto Per Mille Chiesa Valdese, Otto per Mille Battista, Paolo Emilio Landi and his team, Protestantesimo, Rai Due, Human Rights Center in Coimbra and COPIC.

Watch the video here:

Learn more and participate: 7th Summer School on Human Rights [Webinars]

Learn more about CEC’s 6th Summer School on Human Rights

For more information or an interview, please contact:

Naveen Qayyum
Communication Officer
Conference of European Churches
Rue Joseph II, 174 B-1000 Brussels
Tel. +32 2 234 68 42
E-mail: naveen@cec-kek.be
Website: www.ceceurope.org
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Twitter: @ceceurope