The Catholic Center for Studies and Media (CCSM) in Jordan, represented by its director Fr. Dr. Rif’at Bader, is taking part in a conference which opened in Brumana, Mount Lebanon, on Thursday, September 19, titled, "The Role of the Christian-Islamic Dialogue in Building Confidence and Civil Peace".

The conference is organized by the Forum for Development, Culture and Dialogue, whose director is Pastor Dr. Riyadh Jarjour, in cooperation with Danmission within the framework of Arab-Danish Cooperation Project.

The first day of the conference included field visits to sites where the Lebanese civil war took place in southern and eastern Lebanon designed to get the participants in the conference acquainted with places of common living among followers of religions particularly in the aftermath of the civil war.

During the sessions of the first day, Fr. Bader highlighted ten points relevant to the current prevailing atmosphere of the affairs of religions after the collapse of several fanatic groups that occasionally used religion as an excuse to carry out their deeds. He said that "it is time for religion, which was considered for some time one of the causes of the dilemma, to serve as a motive for the attainment of solutions and optimism in the world of today."

The first day sessions started by listening to the conference participants' views on the field visits they undertook to Sidon, Tripoli, and Mount Lebanon. Then Danish Ambassador to Lebanon, Jordan and Syria Merete Juhl expressed her country's pleasure for launching such a pioneering, humanitarian, and intellectual initiative.

In the following session, Dr. Ali Akkam and Sheikh Adib Yaserji talked about the role of dialogue in promoting the concept of citizenship and civil peace from a Syrian point of view.

A second session was devoted to the Jordanian experience in the role of dialogue, during which Advisor to the Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs Dr. Hassan Karira talked about the Jordanian initiatives in the field of rapprochement among followers of religions. He refferred to "the Amman Message", "a Common Word between Us and You", as well as "the World Interfaith Harmony Week".

Dr. Marcel Jweinat also spoke about the role played by women in interreligious dialogue.