UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL, SCIENTIFIC AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATION. Address by Mr Pederico Mayor

Transcription

1 DG/89/3 UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL, SCIENTIFIC AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATION Address by Mr Pederico Mayor Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) on the occasion of the Inaugural Session of the International Symposium on the Contribution of World Religions for the Realization of Human Rights 'No world peace without religious peace.' organized by the Goethe Institute Unesco, 7 February 1989

2 Mr Secretary General of the Goethe Institutes, Mr Director of the Paris Goethe Institute, Mr Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany, Venerable Sirs, Ladies and Gentlemen, It is an honour and a privilege for me to welcome you all to Unesco for this international symposium on the contribution of world religions for the realization of human rights. Unesco is pleased to host and sponsor this event, organized by the Goethe Institute, for it comes as a very suitable followup to the fruitful discussions I had with Mr von Bismarck, President of the Institute, during my visit to the Federal Republic of Germany last May. I consider it a promising start for close co-operation with your renowned institution. I am also pleased to note that this meeting takes place on the occasion of celebrations marking the bicentenary of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen and coincides with the commemoration of the fortieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The presence here of eminent scholars representing major world religions bears witness to the growing awareness of the importance of dialogue. It seems most appropriate that, having agreed to discuss together in all freedom and sincerity about what separates and what unites the religions, whose decisive role in peace, human rights and cultural development is undeniable, you should be holding this meeting in Unesco; as I have occasion to state frequently, this is the house of freedom, dialogue and mutual exchange.

3 2. The time is indeed ripe for such a dialogue. Organizations such as the Ecumenical Council of Christian Churches, and meetings like the Buddhist Conferences or the one recently held in Tripoli on Islam, illustrate this. For me, it is a sign of that open-mindedness to which Professor Kiing refers in his remarkable paper. Openmindedness in dialogue indeed implies confidence in the other, and I confess that I could not but be struck by the parallels that can be drawn between the "fourth strategy" -- the search for ecumenism and universal ethical criteria -- which Professor Kiing propounds as a basis for meaningful dialogue, and the fundamental ethical mission of Unesco, which is to help bring about peace through education, the sciences, culture and communication, that is, through the fullest development of the human potential and in total respect for the dignity of each individual. Ladies and Gentlemen, No-one can deny that in the long, slow, even painstaking emergence of human rights, religions have made a major contribution. No-one can ignore the parallels between the message of human dignity enshrined in the international instruments and covenants that apply to human rights, and the emphasis placed, as Kiing says, on the Humanum, whether it be in the decalogue, the Sermon on the Mount, the Koran, the sayings of the Buddha or the Bhagavad-Gita. The primary focus of all these messages is without doubt the human being. There is, thus, a growing realization nowadays that the major human rights instruments, far from' being, as it were, laymen's texts, that were virtually set against the message of religions, contain many of the ideas and values for which religions have, despite too frequent perversions of such values as justification for violence, for centuries fundamentally stood. "NO world peace without religious peace", the title of thi,s symposium, is a clarion-call to take matters a welcome

4 3. step further, seeking to extend the scope of our striving for peace and dignity beyond each religion's delimitations to that universality of purpose, that interdependence which is revealing itself to be daily more difficult to circumvent in our thoughts, words or deeds. As a scientist, I know that there is no conflict between the physical and metaphysical facets of our life and that our freedom is indeed situated at the mid-point between certitudes and uncertainties, lights and shadows. In today's world, it is by one and the same effort of will that human beings seek to achieve technical mastery over nature, over society, over physical and mental phenomena, and embark on scientific exploration of the laws governing their operation. This will to know and to control has often led to a propensity to disregard religion as a key to approaching the mysteries of this world and ourselves, and even to criticize as illusory any discourse or attitude that refers to a world beyond. However, it is clear to me that those scientists who draw a parallel between what is open to experimental research and what is related to beliefs are not good scientists. And also that those believers who use religion to justify restrictive -- and even discriminatory -- attitudes are not good believers. Both science and religion can only exist and thrive in the essential space of freedom. In this frame, religions -- however permanent or transcending the nature of their values may be -- are today often setting themselves new tasks. Movements are apparent in many parts of the world and in many religions towards a greater consciousness of the contribution they can make in the promotion and application of human rights. What you are here to discuss is how that contribution can be enhanced through a sharpening of the reflex of dialogue and tolerance among the religious communities. That this,

5 4. if genuinely achieved, would give significant impetus to the widest possible application of human rights is, to my mind, unquestionable. The subject of this symposium cannot leave anyone whose whole life is committed to his or her beliefs indifferent: what role do they claim or are they willing to assume, and what imperatives do they impose upon themselves, in their consciences and in their actions, as they confront these challenges? Have many of them the courage to denounce wrongs? To self-criticize? Will they feel able to engender in the minds of individuals or of masses ideas and programmes of action that can change the face of the world and set it on the road to full human dignity and peace? Basic questions these, the answers to which YOU are courageously endeavouring to clarify, not by trying to smooth over differences, not by seeking to reach a low common denominator, not by burying your heads in the sand, but by listening, talking, understanding. This is the challenge of progress in diversity. 'Although ever present in human history, cultural pluralism was for thousands of years frequently threatened because each human community tended to refer to its own values, usually the values of its religion. During the past few decades, however, cultural diversity has acquired unprecedented importance, and the existence, indeed the encouragement, of a range of different value systems has been broadly supported. The recently- launched World Decade for Cultural Development, to be co- ordinated by Unesco, is intended to foster still further progress in this direction and I have no doubt that the dialogue between the religious communities of the world, and the message of greater tolerance and of the recognition of diversity, which you are greatly serving through the very holding of this symposium, will be followed with deep interest by the international community. Indeed, that

6 5. different religions should be striving to apprehend and embrace a common call, and to attain that highest common denominator, that most delicate of all goals, unity in diversity, cannot but be hailed. What specific contribution can Unesco make with regard to probable developments in these areas? The activities most closely related to the subject of this gathering are those that Unesco will develop, in co-operation with all its partners, between 1990 and 1995, the span of our Third Medium-Term Plan, in research and reflection on the convergences of different philosophical and spiritual mainstreams related to the values of peace and tolerance. Unesco also intends to promote research on new contents for school textbooks that will nurture the idea of tolerance, international comprehension and reciprocal appreciation of cultures. Such work, I should say, has been admirably done for over thirty years by the Georg Eckert Institute for International Textbook Research in the Federal Republic of Germany, in recognition of which the Institute was awarded the Unesco Prize 1985 for Peace Education. On the eve of the third millenium, it is becoming clear that the future of human rights will not depend upon the number of legal instruments to identify, regulate and set standards. Application, implementation, enforcement are the key words; this is where the shifts of emphasis are taking place. I see three essential requirements for Unesco's actions at this stage. The first is to explore the new fields lying at the interface of several areas, such as human rights and biotechnology, and human rights and the new communication media. The second is to promote human rights education at all levels and in all forms of education -- perhaps above all in the training of teachers. --

7 6. The third requirement is to inform the general public so that its judgment may rest on current, verified data. For human rights today are the focus of a major public debate that concerns all sectors of the population and lends colour to life, both locally and internationally. Our role - your role - is to make a useful contribution to that debate. Ladies and Gentlemen, In closing, I should like to quote Goethe, in a conversation he had with Chancellor von Miller in He said: "If we look at human behaviour for thousands of years past, we can see certain general patterns which have, since time immemorial, had a wondrous influence, both on entire nations and on individuals. And these patterns, which constantly reappear, unchanging, in a thousand different versions, are a mysterious gift which a higher power has bestowed upon us with the gift of life itself. Each one of us doubtless translates these patterns as we see fit into our own language, adapting them to the individual situation in which we are enclosed, and thus frequently admixing so much base alloy that, to all intents and purposes, their original meaning becomes unrecognizable. Yet ultimately, that meaning always resurfaces, now in one people, now in another, and the watchful scholar, on the strength of these patterns, can compile for himself, as it were, an 'alphabet' of the 'Weltgeist'."* * Unesco Secretariat translation from 'Goethe', H. Lichtenberger, V. II, p. 256 (Paris, Didier, 1939)

8 7. In your search for the basic patterns of truth and union among the religions of the world, you are of the "watchful scholars" contributing to the compilation of this "alphabet". I wish you success in your endeavour. ****