Speaking in a meeting with Archbishop of Vienna Cardinal Schönborn on Wednesday in Vienna, President Hassan Rouhani said “viewpoints of Islam and Christianity about the world and future are very close to each other and we must work together to meet the needs of the young generation, which is getting familiar with right religious beliefs."
“The manifestations of the material world are diverse today, and we must be able to convey spirituality and religion to young people with new and attractive methods," he added.
Stressing that throughout the history relations between Muslims and Christians have been very good and amicable, he said “Iranian Christians are peacefully living alongside other ethnic and religious groups in Iran and have very good relationship with our country’s Muslims."
He added “today, churches in Iran are completely active alongside mosques, Christians have representatives in Iran’s parliament and enjoy rights and authority equal to other members of the parliament."
“When we believe in great reward of the Almighty, sacrificing ourselves in helping human beings becomes easy for us, because if we limit the entire life to the material world, conflicts and violence in the human society will increase and human unity will be compromised,” added Rouhani.
At the same meeting, Archbishop of Vienna Cardinal Schönborn referred to his visit to Iran in 2001 and attending cross-religious dialogues, saying “it is very important that the process of dialogue stay alive."
“Today, our greatest concern is how to transfer religious beliefs, including Christianity to the young generation of Christian countries,” he noted.
LR/PR
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