Building Bridges Beyond Boundaries: OSCE/ODIHR Gathers Diverse Faith Leaders in Warsaw to Address Religious Intolerance
Warsaw, September 22, 2025 — No one ought to really feel unsafe due to what they consider. These highly effective phrases encapsulate the spirit behind a groundbreaking assembly convened right now by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR). In Warsaw, leaders and representatives from a variety of non secular and perception communities gathered to confront the urgent problems with intolerance, discrimination, and hate crimes that proceed to afflict communities throughout the OSCE area.
The session, entitled “Addressing Religious Intolerance: The Challenges, Opportunities and Needs of Religious or Belief Communities,” and strongly envisioned by spiritual freedom knowledgeable Kishan Manocha and his staff, went past merely cataloguing issues. It was an area devoted to dialogue, reflection, and collaboration, with a transparent function: to make sure that each particular person, no matter perception or non-belief, can reside in security and dignity. The insights gathered all through the day will instantly information ODIHR’s work with taking part States to guard freedom of faith or perception and to confront intolerance decisively and successfully.
For a few years, ODIHR has targeted its efforts on supporting Christians, Jews, and Muslims, teams which have traditionally confronted widespread prejudice and persecution. This assembly marked a pivotal growth of that focus by together with communities whose voices are too usually absent from the worldwide dialog. In doing so, ODIHR affirmed its dedication to making sure that freedom of faith or perception is upheld for everybody, with out hierarchy or exclusion.
The session was held behind closed doorways to create a protected and respectful atmosphere for candid exchanges. As contributors arrived at ODIHR headquarters on a transparent September morning, there was a palpable sense of each urgency and hope. Around the desk sat representatives of a exceptional spectrum of traditions: Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Pagan, Zoroastrian, Humanist, Shamanist, Dharmic traditions and Church of Scientology communities, amongst others. Among these current have been Ivan Arjona-Pelado and Eric Roux from the European Office of the Church of Scientology for Public Affairs and Human Rights, Krishna Kripa Dasa (Juan Carlos Ramchandani) President of the Hindu Federation of Spain and lots of others.
Broad range of thought, religion and spiritual communities
The range of contributors despatched a transparent message: intolerance is aware of no boundaries, and neither ought to efforts to deal with it.
Maria Telalian, Director of ODIHR, opened the assembly by welcoming the contributors and adopted by Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Palaver, the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office’s Personal Representative on Combating Racism, Xenophobia, and Discrimination; Mikołaj Wrzecionkowski, Deputy Head, Tolerance and Non-Discrimination Department, ODIHR; Dr. Susan Kerr, Senior Adviser on Freedom of Religion or Belief, Human Rights Department, ODIHR; Mikaela Christiansson, Adviser on Combating Racism, Xenophobia and Intolerance towards Christians and Members of Other Religions, Tolerance and Non-Discrimination Department, ODIHR.
Throughout the morning, contributors shared deeply private accounts of intolerance and discrimination. The first session targeted on mapping the realities confronted by their communities: hate crimes, social exclusion, and the damaging results of stereotypes and misrepresentation. These experiences, whereas various of their particulars, revealed strikingly related patterns. Whether in city facilities or rural areas, on-line areas or bodily neighborhoods, the ache brought on by intolerance reverberates in ways in which erode belief and deepen societal divisions.
Some contributors noticed that such acts do greater than hurt people — they weaken the very material of society. Fear and insecurity not solely restrict the flexibility of affected communities to follow their religion freely but in addition deprive societies of their contributions to tradition, social welfare, and civic life. This session offered a sobering reminder that intolerance, when left unchallenged, threatens everybody.
Later within the day, consideration turned to the function of governments. Participants examined how completely different states have responded to incidents of hate crimes and discrimination. Some examples confirmed significant progress via authorized reforms and energetic engagement with weak communities, whereas others revealed severe shortcomings, together with the issue of categorizing religions in a method that have an effect on to how a lot rights they’ll get pleasure from based mostly on their numbers, and an absence of session with these instantly impacted. A key theme was the need of listening to communities and involving them in policymaking, in order that options mirror lived realities slightly than summary theories whereas correcting the shortage of equal therapy in the direction of the completely different communities.
After a shared lunch, the environment grew to become extra forward-looking. In the afternoon session, contributors explored sensible methods for selling mutual respect and making certain the safety of weak teams. Many described profitable interfaith and interreligious initiatives, whereas additionally acknowledging how usually smaller or lesser-known communities are excluded from such efforts. There was a consensus that real dialogue should transcend symbolic gestures. True inclusion, contributors emphasised, comes from constructing buildings the place each perception is handled with equal dignity and each voice is welcomed to the desk. Education emerged as a key instrument, with requires curricula that commemorate range and foster respect from a younger age. The media’s function was additionally mentioned, notably its energy to both perpetuate stereotypes or problem them by highlighting optimistic narratives of coexistence.
The closing session invited contributors to think about the long run they hope to construct. They spoke of societies the place range is just not merely tolerated however embraced as a supply of energy. Many shared tales of how their communities already contribute to peace and social cohesion — from working humanitarian tasks to preserving cultural heritage and selling moral values. In these reflections, a collective imaginative and prescient started to take form: a area the place freedom of faith or perception is just not a privilege however a common actuality, and the place communities work hand in hand with governments and civil society to forestall intolerance earlier than it takes root.
As the session drew to an in depth, ODIHR’s Tolerance and Non-Discrimination Department, expressed gratitude to all contributors for his or her contributions emphasizing that the insights shared through the day wouldn’t stay inside the partitions of the assembly room however would inform tangible actions throughout the OSCE area.
The day’s dialogue embodied the essence of ODIHR’s message, echoed in a while its official social media channels: “No one ought to really feel unsafe due to what they consider.” This gathering was greater than an exploration of challenges; it was about making certain that each group can really feel protected and revered, and about reworking phrases into motion.
While the highway forward is lengthy, the Warsaw session demonstrated that progress is feasible. When various communities come collectively in mutual respect, they not solely confront intolerance but in addition lay the foundations for extra inclusive and resilient societies. As Ivan Arjona mirrored, “We could come from completely different paths, however right now, we walked collectively towards a shared horizon of hope.”
