Theologies and practices of religious pluralism was a theme in a panel at the Fifth Annual Conference of the European Academy of Religion held in Bologna, on 21 June.

The overarching topic of the Conference was Religion and Diversity.

CEC Executive Secretary Katerina Pekridou spoke about self-understanding of the Orthodox Church in relation to ecclesial plurality based on a series of consultations held from 2002-2008 between CEC and the Community of Protestant Churches in Europe (CPCE).

These consultations initiated a dialogue about a possible church model of “unity in reconciled diversity” as founded on the Leuenberg Agreement.

The panel was part of a larger project “The Theologies and Practices of Religious Pluralism” organised by Reset Dialogues on Civilizations, Milano, the University of Birmingham, the Berkley Center at Georgetown University, and the Foundation for Religious Sciences, Bologna.

The project will further investigate current debates and issues on pluralism within and across religious traditions and how some of these debates are reshaping the status of religion in different public spaces.