We, the delegates of the World Congress of Ethnic Religions, held in Vilnius, Lithuania, from 20 to 24 June 1998, have gathered to express our solidarity for the ethnic, indigenous, native and/or traditional religions of Europe and the other regions of the world.
All cultures and all native religions and faiths should be equally valued and respected.. Each region and each people have their distinctive local traditions (native faith, world outlook, mythology, folklore etc.) which articulate their love of their land and history, and cultivate a regard for the sacredness of all life and the divinity of Nature. Just as Nature survives through a wide variety of species, so can humanity be allowed to develop freely and without interference along a wide variety of cultural expressions. According to our ancient traditional ethics, the Earth and all creation must be valued and
protected. We as human beings must find our place within the web of all life, not outside or separate from the whole of creation.
We share a common understanding of our position in the world, based upon our common historical experience of oppression and intolerance. Ethnic and/or "Pagan" religions have suffered great injury and destruction in the past from religions claiming they possess the only truth It is our sincere wish to live in peace and harmony, and to strive for cooperation with the followers of all other religions, faiths and beliefs.
We believe that the dawn of a new era of individual and intellectual freedom and global exchange of views and information gives us an opportunity to start again to return to our own native spiritual roots in order to re-claim our religious heritage. We are worshippers of Nature just as whole mankind was, for the last 96 % of its history.
True indigenous religions should give us love and respect for all that we see and feel around, to accept all forms of worship which emphasize sincere hearts, pure thoughts and noble conduct at every moment of our life, towards all that exists.
Let us be proud of our reborn ethnic religions. Our new Universalism induces people not to remain closed within walls of hatred and jealousy against those who are not inside our walls. Let us break these walls and expand the horizon and vision of the whole humanity.
We established the "World Congress of Ethnic Religions' /WCER/ to help all ethnic religions groups survive and cooperate with each other. Our motto is "Unity in Diversity."
Oyvind SlLJEHOLM ARNESEN (Norway), Ham BERGHMANS (Belgium), Janis BRIKMANIS (Latvia), Denis DORNOY (France), Audrius DUNDZILA (USA), Arwind GHOSH (India), Morten GROLSTED (Denmark), Surinder Paul ATTRI (India), VadimKAZAKOV (Russia), Stefan KLUGE (Germany), Todor KASHKUREVICH (Belarus), Koenraad LOGGHE (Belgium), Giuseppe MAIELLO (Czech), Halina LOZKO (Ukraine), Geza von NEMENYI (Germany), Stashko POTSHEBOVSKI (Poland), Vlasis RASSIAS (Greece), Rajinder SINGH (India), Nikolaj SPERANSKIJ (Russia), Michael Strmiska (USA) Jonas TRINKUNAS (Lithuania), Laila WIBERG (Sweden), Catrin WILDGRUBE (Germany)
Vilnius, Lithuania, 23 June 1998
WCER Office:
E-mail: jontrin@taide.lt
Telephone: +370-2-262966
Vivulskio 27-4
LT-2009 Vilnius, Lithuania