The Protestants of Uzbekistan celebrated the 500th anniversary of the reformation in the spirit of tolerance
On 27 November in the Academic Russian drama theatre of Uzbekistan Protestants celebrated the 500 anniversary of the reformation. The celebration was attended by representatives of the Committee on religious Affairs under the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan, diplomatic corps, major religious denominations and other distinguished guests. The event organizers were the Bible society of Uzbekistan and the Center of full gospel Christians.
«The quincentenary of the reformation,» — said General Secretary of the Bible society of Uzbekistan HalmatAshirov, «it’s not only important for the believers of the Protestant persuasion, but also another opportunity to strengthen friendly and good neighborly relations with other confessions and religious beliefs»
A celebration of such scale took place with the Protestant segment of society for the first time. As noted by the Chairman of the Centre of full gospel Christians Peter Kremeruk, «the Feast of the reformation reminds us that the Church is a part of society, and urgent needs of the people — the challenges which facing each of us. Update medieval Church brought productive change and improvement of society. This pattern is true in any era.»
At any stage of development, the society is faced with the necessity of reform. This is confirmed by the recent changes in education, health and other sectors initiated by the President ShavkatMirzieev. Speaking about the «action Strategy» for the coming years, he emphasizedthat to maintain the peace and understanding — an educational work is necessary. That is why one of the goals of this event was to strengthen inter-religious and inter-confessional relations in the spirit of tolerance and mutual respect.
The festival programme revealed themes such as the emergence of Protestantism, the influence of the reformation on religion, society, culture and economy, as well as the place of Protestantism in the history and modernity of Uzbekistan. Information blocks alternated with thematic compositions performed by chamber orchestra «Turkiston», State choir chapel and performances of guest performers. During the event, made congratulatory speeches Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of USA Pamela Spratlen, Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Ukraine YuriySavchenko and other representatives of the diplomatic corps, foreign Bible societies and main religious confessions.
The jubilee of the reformation — this is the second event at the diplomatic level, organized by the Bible society of Uzbekistan this year. Recall that on 1 June 2017, together with the Russian Institute for Bible translation, the presentation of the first complete translation of the Bible into the Uzbek language. This event was aimed at strengthening peace in the religious diversity of our people.
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