In the building of the Council of Europe the Representative of the Russian Orthodox Church in Strasbourg Hegumen Philip (Ryabykh) has met with the President of the Conference of International Non-Governmental Organizations of the Council of Europe, Jean-Marie Heydt.
Hegumen Philip told Mr Heydt about the Representation of the Moscow Patriarchate to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg. He stressed that it was opened on the initiative of the acting Patriarch of Moscow and All-Russia Kirill, having regard to the significant presence of the faithful of the Russian Orthodox Church in many countries of modern Europe and the need to represent the position of the Moscow Patriarchate in the European standards-making process. The Church representative also introduced Mr Heydt to the activities of the Russian Orthodox Church in the civil society of countries where her communities are present. He stressed that due to religious communities strong organizations and groups in former Soviet societies often appear, representing the spectrum of civil society which arises from grassroots initiatives. Hegumen Philip expressed an interest in developing the participation of international Orthodox organizations in the activities of CINGO. In particular, they talked about the adherence of the World Russian People’s Council to this structure of the Council of Europe. Since 2005, the WRPC has had special consultative status with the United Nations.
For his part, Mr Heydt expressed readiness to support cooperation with the Representation of the Russian Orthodox Church in Strasbourg and the international Orthodox Christian organizations. He also noted that CINGO is already working with international organizations of the Catholic, Protestant, Jewish and Muslim traditions. He invited a representative of the WRPC to take part in the Civil Society Forum “Living together. Combining Diversity and Freedom in 21st Century Europe”, which will be held in Strasbourg on 13-14 November 2011. According to the representative of the Council of Europe, traditional religious communities can more effectively stand against all kinds of extremism in the pseudo-religious environment of the narrow sectarian type. In his turn, Hegumen Philip noticed the importance of public support of religious communities in the areas of education, health, media and culture. In his opinion, the implementation of religious beliefs of people in traditional spiritual life is capable of preventing their movement toward extremist and radical views.
The Conference of International Non-Governmental Organizations (CINGO) at the Council of Europe (CE) was established in 1952, when the Council of Europe introduced a consultative status for international non-governmental organizations. In 2003, in return for this status participant status was introduced, which allows inclusion in the police and work programmes of CE. CINGO is regarded as one of the four pillars of the Council of Europe, along with the Committee of Ministers, PACE and the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities (CLRA). Today, CINGO consists of about 400 organizations.
CINGO is designed to enhance the activity of civil society in the Council of Europe. Its governing bodies determine the main directions of the program and take action. CINGO meets three or four times in Strasbourg. The President is elected every three years. The current President is Jean-Marie Heydt, who was elected in January 2009.