The King Hamad Global Centre for Peaceful Coexistence received today Professor Alberto Melloni, the Director of the John XXIII Foundation for Religious Studies (Fscire) and Chair holder of the UNESCO Chair on Religious Pluralism and Peace at the University of Bologna, Italy, and his accompanying delegation on the occasion of their visit to the Kingdom of Bahrain. They discussed boosting joint cooperation to support initiatives aimed at promoting religious freedom and peaceful coexistence at the regional and international level.
During the meeting, a documentary was shown on Bahrain’s main achievements in fostering religious tolerance and peaceful coexistence. The documentary also highlighted the kingdom’s standing as an international model in religious tolerance and harmony. It also shed light on the main programmes and initiatives of the King Hamad Global Centre for Peaceful Coexistence since its establishment in 2018 to date.
Board of Trustees Chairman of the King Hamad Global Centre for Peaceful Coexistence, Dr. Shaikh Khalid bin Khalifa Al Khalifa commended the enlightened royal vision and HM the King’s directives to boost the noble humanitarian values of religious tolerance and acceptance of the other. He stressed the kingdom’s steady steps in promoting the concepts of peaceful coexistence and respect of religious freedom worldwide, being the land of peace and harmony.
Dr. Shaikh Khalid noted that the visit of the high profile Italian delegation, headed by Prof. Alberto Melloni, is very symbolic in further cementing deep-rooted historical relations between both countries. He praised the efforts of the University of Bologna in supporting studies on religious pluralism and peaceful coexistence to promote tolerance, religious freedom and mutual respect.
For her part, Secretary General of the King Hamad Global Centre for Peaceful Coexistence, Sumaya Al-Meer, asserted in her welcome speech the kingdom’s leading status in religious tolerance and peaceful coexistence. She pointed out diversity of houses of worship in the capital city of Manama which stand witness to religious freedom and tolerance that has ever characterized the Bahraini community. She pointed out the centre’s initiatives to protect religious freedom and pluralism and fight discourse of hatred, extremism and religious disdain.
For his part, Prof. Alberto Melloni hailed the Bahraini pioneering model in ensuring ascendency of the language of dialogue, tolerance and peace over hatred, racism and religious fanaticism. He stressed the importance of embracing this approach worldwide, valuing the role of the King Hamad Global Centre for Peaceful Coexistence in translating the royal vision into a reality through launching quality initiatives to foster the noble humanitarian values of inter-religious and cultural dialogue, mutual respect, tolerance, forgiveness and acceptance of the other.
Prof. Alberto Melloni voiced the interest of the University of Bologna in boosting cooperation with the King Hamad Global Centre for Peaceful Coexistence to spread the culture of tolerance and peaceful coexistence among the youth all over the world. He addressed an official invitation to the centre’s Board of Trustees Chairman and members to participate in the Religious Values Forum which will be held in the Italian city of Bologna next October on the sidelines of the Italian Republic’s presidency of the G20 this year.
Source: Bahrain News Agency