Holy Mount International Conference in Serbia

The International Conference, The Holy Mount Athos – the Unique Spiritual and Cultural Heritage of Humanity, dedicated to the Orthodox spiritual center, the Holy Mount in Greece, took place on June 23-25 in Serbia’s capital, Belgrade.

The conference, which was the third consecutive, was organized by The World Public Forum Dialogue of Civilizations and the Society of the Mount Athos Friends in Serbia, in cooperation with other societies and friends of Mount Athos from Great Britain and Italy.

The aim of the conference was to draw the attention of the European and international society to the uniqueness of the Holy Mount and focused on the necessity to preserve the spiritual and cultural particularities of this sacred place.

The participants in the conference, who were prominent researchers, intellectuals, public and religious figures, adopted a declaration pointing to the necessity of preserving the Holy Mount’s legal status and making the world familiar with its tradition.

The most important contribution of the conference was the discussion on how the Athonite monks treat their surroundings, as well as the relationship between ecology of modern mankind and ecology in the light of the monastic experience, according to ANSAmed.

Proceedings included two plenary sessions and three roundtables with a discussion on the following themes: “Askesis, Theology, Modernity”, “Askesis and Ecology” and “The Holy Mount Athos and the unity of Eastern Christian World,” as reported on Holy Mount Athos’ website.

During the conference, 120 speakers from ten countries had the chance to meet with each other and focus on the subject of the Holy Mount. The Abbot of the Hilandar Monastery, Metodije pointed out that such meetings are important, because they point to spiritual and cultural significance of Mount Athos in the modern world.

The two previous conferences dedicated to the Holy Mount were held in Salzburg, Austria in 2011 and in Weimar, Germany in 2012.