It is widely recognized nowadays that culture is the most important source of European identity. Therefore religion as a key element of culture is an important factor in its development. At the same time, such basic values as solidarity and tolerance, that create the fabric of the European identity are identified with the Jewish-Christian tradition. In the age of multicultural societies, however, it is quite problematic to highlight a separate religious-cultural tradition as a basis of common identity. It seems that although religion as a phenomenon is an inherited feature of European identity, religion in its different historical, theological, institutional and community dimensions could contest or question this identity.
In the progress of continental integration, there have been many cases revealing the potential of various religions to provoke and heat conflicts. The enlargement of the European Union with new member-states brings about serious transformations not only in the EU’s denominational map, but also in the inner dynamics of Europe’s religious communities and life. On one hand, the statistical data points to a significant decline in the proportion of Protestants and Catholics, while on the other, there is an increase in the number of Orthodox believers. Moreover, by the possible integration of Turkey, Islam will become a significant religious block in the EU. Due to this, a new era of „interreligious coexistence” will be necessary, bringing about new political and cultural challenges.
The religious and cultural distinctness of Romania and Bulgaria - the states that joined the EU in 2007, tinges even more the formation of this new European identity. It is important to clarify the impact of the religious, ecclesiastical, and community/national aspects of Orthodoxy on the construction of a common European culture and identity. The EU principle of „Unity in Diversity” creates the fundaments of the European Identity. On the one hand, it includes a conflict-free maintenance of cultural differences, while on the other, presupposes dissolution of these differences in common European value orientation. This approach, however, could be challenged by the historical and cultural ruptures between Western Christianity and Orthodoxy that may cause conflicts.
The Re-Dial Association for the Academic Religious Studies wants to contribute to the development of an interactive international dialogue by organising a three-day conference. The participants of this conference will be young scholars, university professors and representatives of different NGOs and media from all over this region - Romania, Bulgaria, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Serbia, Hungary. The aim of this conference is to look for answers - along different thematic blocks - to such topical questions as the role of religions in a “new” Europe, the relation between religious identity and the forming of a new European identity, or the emergence of religious freedom in the EU states. The selection of participants, committed to their academic work and from different nations is to guarantee that a constructive dialogue may evolve among them as individuals as well as among the organisations and institutions represented by them. It also permits of developing common long-term strategies.