Summary/Abstract |
Armen Oganesyan, editor-in-chief of International Affairs: It was Bishop Nestor's idea to hold this roundtable. He initiated, inspired, and blessed this event, so he has the floor to give welcoming remarks.
Nestor, Bishop of Yalta: Starting is always hard, but finishing is even harder, because everything in this world has a beginning but continues into eternity. By starting, I mean taking the first step in trying to understand our reality. It's an extremely complex and convoluted reality - more complex than the Soviet or any other reality. Therefore, our self-identification and self-assertion is our main spiritual and moral task. And this requires intellectual courage and the resolve to maintain one's identity in our rather difficult environment.
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