7 CEC 7 Places of Worship in Europe and the Middle and the in Europe East and Holy Sites of Worship Places Places of Worship and Holy Sites and Holy Sites in Europe in Europe and the Middle East and the Middle East Status and Protection under National and International Law Status and Protection under National Worship places – churches, synagogues, mosques, temples, shrines and many others – are a key feature in most religions, a part of cultural heritage with a high symbolic and emotional and International Law value attached to them. Unfortunately, as a consequence of armed conflict or actions by radical nationalists, worship places are often targeted to inflict damage and eradicate identity. For this reason, national and international laws exist to award special protection to Elizabeta Kitanovic and Patrick Roger Schnabel (Editors) such places. This collection of essays explores the relevance the protection of religious sites has in implementing the freedom of religion or belief and in fostering peaceful relations among different religions.among different religions. Elizabeta Kitanovic and Patrick Roger Schnabel Roger (Eds.) Patrick and Elizabeta Kitanovic Editors Dr Elizabeta Kitanovic is Executive Secretary for Human Rights at CEC. She studied theology and political science, and graduated from the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Serbia). She previously worked as a senior human rights advocate for international organisations and focused efforts on fundraising. Revd. Dr Patrick Roger Schnabel represent the Protestant Church in Germany in the Human Rights work of CEC, and is head of the Church Development Service and Human Rights Commissioner of the Protestant Church Berlin-Brandenburg- Upper Lusatia. He gained theological degrees from St Andrews and Göttingen, and was awarded a doctorate in law from Potsdam University, where he currently teaches law. Globethics.net Places of Worship and Holy Sites in Europe and the Middle East Status and Protection under National and International Law Places of Worship and Holy Sites in Europe and the Middle East Status and Protection under National and International Law Elizabeta Kitanović and Patrick Roger Schnabel (Editors) Globethics.net CEC Series No. 7 Edition CEC at Globethics.net Director: Prof. Dr Obiora Francis Ike. Executive Director of Globethics.net Series Editor: Dr Jørgen S. Sørensen, General Secretary of the Conference of European Churches Globethics.net CEC 7 Elizabeta Kitanović and Patrick Roger Schnabel (Eds.), Places of Worship and Holy Sites in Europe and Middle East Geneva: Globethics.net, 2021 ISBN 978-2-88931-393-8 (online version) ISBN 978-2-88931-394-5 (print version) © 2021 Globethics.net with CEC Managing Editor: Ignace Haaz Assistant Editor: Nefti Bempong-Ahun Language Editor: Vanessa Barreto Globethics.net Conference of European Churches (CEC) International Secretariat Ecumenical Centre 150 route de Ferney Rue Joseph II, 174 1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland 1000 Brussels, Belgium Website: Website www.ceceurope.org www.globethics.net/publications Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] All web links in this text have been verified as of March 2021. The electronic version of this book can be downloaded for free from the Globethics.net website: www.globethics.net. 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TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface ................................................................................. 9 Rev. Christian Krieger, President of the Conference of European Churches PART I Places of Worship and Holy Sites: Introducing the Subject Editors' Preface a Question of Humanity – Why the Protection of Relgious Places Should Be a Priority in Human Rights Law .................. 15 Dr Elizabeta Kitanović, Conference of European Churches and Rev. Dr Patrick Roger Schnabel, commissioned by the Protestant Church in Germany (EKD) Places of Worship and Religious Monuments in Europe and in the Middle East: Status and Protection under National and International Law - Opening Address .................... 23 His Beatitude Archbishop Chrysostomos II of Nova Justiniana and All Cyprus PART II Places of Worship and Holy Sites: Defining the Subject Theological Reflections 1 Faith Seeks Space: How We Relate to Places of Worship (a Protestant Perspective) ............................ 29 Rev. Dr Clemens W. Bethge, Protestant Church Berlin-Brandenburg-Upper Lusatia 2 The Whole is Greater than the Sum of its Parts: Approaching a Theological Understanding of the Holy Land and the Holy City of Jerusalem ......... 37 His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem and all Palestine 3 More than Wood and Stones: How the Destruction of Holy Sites Affects Religious Identity .......................... 43 Rev. Dr Göran Gunner, Uniting Church in Sweden 4 Legal Reflection: How Can the Law Understand and Protect what is Holy to Believers? ........................... 55 Rev. Dr Patrick Roger Schnabel, commissioned by the Protestant Church in Germany (EKD) PART III Existing Frameworks for the Protection of Places of Worship and Holy Sites Different National Legislation from Europe and the Middle East 5 France ............................................................................. 65 Willy Fautré, Human Rights without Frontiers 6 Russia: The Concept and Nature of Real Estate Objects for Religious Purposes According to the Legislation of the Russian Federation. ................. 71 Prof. Dr Igor V. Ponkin, IPACS of the RANEPA, His Eminence, Dr Metropolitan of Smolensk and Dorogobuzh Isidor (Tupikin Roman), Diocesan Bishop of the Smolensk Diocese and Fr. Dr Vladislav Bagan, Secretary of the Smolensk Diocesan Administration 7 Turkey ............................................................................ 93 Assoc. Professor Dr Yannis Ktistakis, Ecumenical Patriarchate 8 Protection under International Law: UN/EU Framework......................................................... 105 Assoc. Professor Dr Yannis Ktistakis, Ecumenical Patriarchate 9 Non-Traditional Sacred Sites: The Need for Protection ................................................. 117 Prof. Dr W. Cole Durham, Jr., BYU PART IV Case Studies on Current Challenges 10 Austria ........................................................................ 145 Dr Peter Krömer, Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Austria 11 Greece ......................................................................... 153 Rev. Meletis Meletiadis, Evangelical Church of Greece 12 Ukraine ....................................................................... 159 Dr Antoine Arjakovsky, Collège des Bernardins, France 13 Romania ...................................................................... 169 Fr. Dr Sorin Selaru, Romanian Orthodox Church 14 Cyprus ......................................................................... 181 His Grace Bishop Porphyrios of Neapolis, Church of Cyprus 15 Former Yugoslavia .................................................... 187 Archimandrite Sava Janjić, Serbian Orthodox Church 16 Serbia-Kosovo UNSCR 1244/1999 ........................... 193 Archimandrite Sava Janjić, Serbian Orthodox Church 17 Syria ............................................................................ 199 His Grace Bishop Armash Nalbandian, Primate of the Armenian Diocese of Damascus Annex ............................................................................... 203 PREFACE Rev. Christian Krieger, President of the Conference of European Churches “A people lacking a memory are a people without a future” wrote Aimé Césaire. There are places, objects, buildings, some perhaps more so than others that act as living symbols for the individual and/or collec- tive memory. Such places, objects and buildings not only tell the story of a time that is past, but they also contribute to writing and transmitting the identity of individuals or groups, to evoking the narrative of their values and convictions, and to bearing the memory of their experiences. Places of worship and holy sites have a particular place in this dy- namic because they remind one of encounters with the sacred and focus in a special way on an experience of the divine that has been shared by others over the centuries. No-one doubts that in the Christian tradition it is the believer himself who constitutes the temple of God and the dwell- ing place of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 3:16; 6:19); however, believers also bear witness to their faith by visiting certain sites. It is also true that some spiritual or theological approaches do have a more distant relation- ship with places, seeking to come closer to a God who is first and fore- most "spirit and truth" (Jn 4:23f). Generally, however,