CAREE was one of the sponsoring organizations for the International Scholars’ Annual Trialogue [ISAT] held in Skopje, Macedonia, May 10-14, 2002, at the invitation of the President of Macedonia, Boris Trajkovski. The president of CAREE, Paul Mojzes, is one of the coordinators of ISAT; Leonard Swidler is the other. Jim Payton, CAREE’s executive secretary, participated in the conference. President Trajkovski hoped that the ISAT conference would help ward off civil war in Macedonia and assist in the promotion of civil society in the nation. The meeting made an effective contribution in that regard, as evidenced by the three main commitments made at the end of the conference:

1. the heads of the five religious communities mentioned in the Macedonian constitution would meet regularly;
2. a Council of Interreligious Cooperation would be set up, with representatives from each of the religious traditions; and
3. the two major theological faculties (Orthodox Christian and Islamic) pledged to cooperate. (For a report on the May 2002 ISAT conference, see the Summer/Fall Report from 2002)

(from left to right) Jim Payton, Peter Baktis, Paul Mojzes, Leonard Swidler, Mahmud Aydin, and Ilija Cvetkov (Macedonian arrangements coordinator)

On October 11-17, 2004, with financial support made possible by a grant from the United States Institute of Peace, several scholars returned to Macedonia. The visit was led by Paul Mojzes and Leonard Swidler, who were accompanied by Prof. Mahmud Aydin (Turkey), Rev. Peter Baktis (US), Jim Payton (Canada), and Rabbi Reuven Firestone (US – his arrival was delayed until the evening of October 13, owing to responsibilities at another conference). Fr. Baktis is a priest in the Orthodox Church in America, who serves as a chaplain in the U.S. army; Prof. Aydin is a Muslim scholar; Prof. Firestone is Jewish; Paul Mojzes is Methodist, originally from the former Yugoslavia; and Leonard Swidler is Roman Catholic. The delegation thus included representatives of all five religious traditions mentioned in the Macedonian constitution. (Jim Payton had been invited by the Orthodox theological faculty to present a paper at the seminary.) The purpose of the trip was to engage academically with the Muslim and Orthodox seminaries again and to follow up on the progress in meeting the commitments made in 2002. The Orthodox and the Muslim theological faculties had extended invitations to us to speak to them.

the attendees at the conference

On October 12, at the Faculty of Islamic Studies, we lectured for faculty, students, and visitors. The main presentation was made by Prof. Aydin, with the others speaking more briefly. A representativeof the Orthodox Theological Seminary addressed the body, as well. A lively and fruitful public discussion ensued, with women and men students as well as faculty participating. The program was filmed by the Albanian language channel of Macedonian TV and shown to its viewers.

That evening, Leonard Swidler and Paul Mojzes spoke on interreligious dialogue at a Cultural Center in Skopje called Tochka (Point Counterpoint), with the other members of the delegation making briefer presentations. The session was chaired by Prof. Slobodanka Markovska of the University of Skopje, and sponsored by the center, which is partially supported by the Soros Foundation in Skopje – which also financed the Macedonian translation of the book, The Study of Religion in the Age of Global Dialogue, by Leonard Swidler and Paul Mojzes. (Prof. Markovska had arranged for the translation.) The center was packed with young people, and Macedonian language television crews were present, doing interviews and filming the session. The program was subsequently aired on state television.

(from left to right) Ratomir Grozdanoski (professor at the Orthodox Theological Seminary and secretary of the Holy Synod of the Macedonian Orthodox Church), Jim Payton, Mahmut Aydin, Archbishop Stefan, Leonard Swidler, Paul Mojzes, Peter Baktis

October 13 was a busy day. It began with an audience with the chief hierarch of the Macedonian Orthodox Church, Archbishop Stefan. We had a lengthy and warm discussion with him, during which a number of concrete possible projects – such as the joint training of Orthodox and Muslim clergy in common pastoral concerns (alcoholism, drugs, trafficking of women, battered wives and children) – were proposed and discussed.

Then we went to the Orthodox Theological Seminary, where we presented another set of lectures. Jim Payton and Fr. Peter Baktis gave the main addresses, with the others also briefly speaking to the assembled faculty, students, and visitors. (A report of the audience with Archbishop Stefan and on the lectures at the seminary can be found on the Macedonian Orthodox Church’s website: go to www.mpc.org.mk/English, select “News & Events,” and click on the entry for 14.10.2004.)

Through the interchanges at the seminaries, we discovered that, as a result of the 2002 Trialogue, a series of six exchange lectures had been held, three each at both colleges by the other faculties. We also learned that the deans of the two theological faculties had appeared in a lengthy dialogue on public television. Further, during the summer of 2004 a joint study camp for students from both the Orthodox and the Islamic colleges had been held in southern Macedonia – and further plans for major cooperation are afoot. Thus, commitment number three from 2002 is making good progress and promises even more.

After the lectures at the Orthodox Theological Seminary, the delegation also met with Branko Crvenkovski, the new President of Macedonia (after the tragic death in a plane crash of President Trajkovski this past February). We were warmly received by him and encouraged to continue our work, with the promise to collaborate with us in whatever way possible. We made a specific suggestion that the government of Macedonia specify some public space in some property it owns to house the offices, library, and meeting space for the Council of Interreligious Cooperation. He promised to take this up at various levels of the government. As well, we learned from him that the very next day he was hosting a meeting in Ohrid of the heads of the five major religious communities of Macedonia – who are the members of the Council of Interreligious Cooperation. He indicated that these meetings would take place every three months, hosted on a rotating basis by the several religious leaders, and that he as President would attend the meetings. Needless to say, we are delighted that commitment number one has been auspiciously launched.

Later that day, we visited the widow of President Boris Trajkovski, Mrs. Vilma Trajkovska, to offer our condolences and to learn about the beginning, but promising, work of “The Boris Trajkovski International Foundation.” Both sides promised to stay in contact to see how we might be able to collaborate in the future on the causes that we share.

(from left to right) Leonard Swidler, Peter Baktis, Wilma Trajkovska, Paul Mojzes, Jim Payton, Mahmut Aydin, and two coordinators of The Boris Trajkovski International Foundation

During the visit, we were able to meet with representatives of four of the five religious traditions on the Council of Interreligious Cooperation – namely, the Orthodox (Prof. Ratomir Grozdanoski), Muslim (Dean Ismail Bardhi), Protestant (Rev. Mikhail Cekov), and Jewish (Mr. Viktor Mizrahi); the Catholic representative was unavailable. From all this, we were encouraged that, although not much progress had been made on commitment number two to date, considerably more seems likely in the future.

During the evening of October 13, we had lengthy conversations with the two Jewish community leaders, Mr. Zdravko Shami (President) and Viktor Mizrahi (Coordinator). The following day, the delegation met with the heads of Catholic Relief Services in Macedonia and discussed thoroughly the possibility of their cooperating with the Council for Interreligious Cooperation to facilitate the effectiveness of its grass roots work. Those arrangements need to be finalized, but if they can be worked out, they promise to make the work on the ground much more efficient and effective. On October 15, we traveled to Strumitsa, in southeastern Macedonia, where the Methodist Annual Conference was being held. Paul Mojzes addressed the conferees, and we held brief discussions with the Methodist Bishop Heinrich Bolleter and with Rev. Mikhail Cekov , the Protestant representative to the Council for Interreligious Cooperation.

As well, on October 14, members of the delegation met with Mr. Vladimir Milchin, the Director of the Soros Foundation in Macedonia, to inform him of our activities and give him copies of the handsome publication of the Macedonian/Albanian translation of the papers from the 2002 Trialogue. 1,000 copies had been printed, to be disseminated among the five religious communities and others. He seemed pleased with the concrete results.

looking from the residence toward the chapel at St. John the Baptist Monastery (for men)

During our time in Macedonia, we also distributed a large number of English language book versions of the Journal of Ecumenical Studies issue entitled Interreligious Dialogue Toward Reconciliation in Macedonia and Bosnia, containing the papers from the 2002 Trialogue. As well, we delivered a box of English language books on various aspects of interreligious dialogue and peace making for the Council on Interreligious Cooperation.

On October 15 and 16, we visited several Macedonian Orthodox monasteries and traveled to Ohrid. We were all impressed by the new vitality of both the male and female monasteries and especially the significant number of very able young women nuns – often gifted university graduates – who have joined the monasteries in the past five years.

We ended our visit with real satisfaction that significant progress has been made, partially as a result of our efforts, and that even more can be realistically be looked forward to as various arrangements “on the ground” are going forward.

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