Following is the text of the address Director of the Catholic Center for Studies and Media in Jordan Fr. Rif'at Bader made on November 9 at the opening of the two-day conference, which was patronized by Upper House of Parliament Faisal Al Fayez, titled, "Migration of Religious and Ethnic Components within the Region and Beyond":
His Excellency Mr. Faisal Al Fayez,
patron of the conference,
Your Excellencies,
I have the pleasure to welcome you at this pioneering gathering which brings together distinguished tripartite intellectual groupings in society: the Catholic Center for Studies and Media, Nisan Center for Research and Development, and Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, that jointly organized this conference which tackles one of the most important human and regional intricacies, namely migration.
You are welcome in Jordan which took upon itself the duty of serving as a beacon of enlightenment not only to its children, but also to convey a message to the neighboring countries and the world. Today marks the 10th anniversary of demonic deeds that tried to uproot Jordan's joys and turn them into bleak sadness. Jordan will never be defeated as it is determined to turn every tragedy into genuine days of joy to everyone.
Let me recall "the International Conference on the Victims of Ethnic and Religious Violence in the Middle East " which convened in Paris two months ago. During the conference our foreign minister played a key role in eliminating a poignant term and replacing it by a cathartic one. The first term is "coexistence'' which bears negative impacts. The second term is "components'' which optimistically and joyfully contributes to making a bright future as has been the case in the past and present.
I welcome you in the name of the Catholic Center for Studies and Media as we discuss the same new terms in different contexts. Our discussion today is not about terrorism and counter-terrorism. It is about migration which has been named "forced displacement" and "radical uprooting'' from the homes and the homelands of the fathers and grandfathers. This is attributed to the extremist endeavors designed to carry out religious and ethnic exclusion of the others, which ultimately leads to monotony in the Orient at a time when the Orient got used to enlightened thought and sublime plurality.
We greet all the participants who will vociferously call for the need of dialogue in order to preserve the major components in the structure of the Arab and Middle Eastern societies at present and in the future.
We greet all those who adopt a slogan, as the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan does, designed to build communication bridges rather than separation walls.
We welcome all those who assiduously strive for two successive days to promote the culture of ''meeting'' rather than the abominable and fatal culture of ''cancellation".
We greet all those who view humanity as one whole, not being divided or broken up due to religious, ethnic and cultural considerations. Aren't we living in a same age and the same year as a major country like Canada that has formed a Cabinet equally composed of men and women? Their prime minister said," Because it's 2015, so why discrimination, cancellation and forcing others to quit just because they are different?"
I greet our partners, speakers and invitees. I greet in particular all those who came from abroad from friendly and fraternal countries to our beloved Jordan.
I also greet the youths who came for the American University of Madaba accompanying Dean of Student Affairs Dr. Munther Al Nimri and Dr. Hanan Mdanat. We sought to introduce change by involving the youths since they are the future, the future is theirs and it is borne on their shoulders.
I welcome you all. May the Almighty God protect the homeland and maintain its stability.
Fr. Rif'at Bader
Director of the Catholic Center for Studies and Media
www.abouna.org
