Study visits/ visits of positive examples
Three study visits were realized for 17 participants. The first study visit was realized in the University of Tantur in Jerusalem, Israel. Two students of the Orthodox Faculty have visited the university in the period September 15 – December 15, 2003.

The second study visit was realized from March 28, to April 3, 2004 for two representatives of the Macedonian Orthodox Church at the Ecumenical Institute of Bossey, Switzerland. The topic of the visit was “Fair War – is there such thing as a fair war”. The discussions were focused on the significance and dilemmas of the so-called fair wars and the attitude of the church and the church organizations towards the war in general. The conclusion was that many actors use the religion to justify the conflicts, using the religious symbolism in their arguments and rhetoric.

The destination for the third visit was Northern Ireland. A 13-member group comprised of representatives of five religious communities (three from the Macedonian Orthodox Church and the Islamic Religious Community, two from the Jewish Community, one from the Catholic Church, and the United Methodist Church as well as two from the Committee for Relations with Religious Communities and one of from MCIC) participated at the five-day study visit to several religious communities and other relevant institutions in Northern Ireland. Several meetings were staged with representatives of the Inter-Religious Forum of Northern Ireland (pendant to the Inter-Religious Council of Macedonia), the Islamic Centre, the Antiochus Orthodox Church, the Jewish Community, the Catholic Monastery Clonard as well as Corimela Mediation School. In between the presentations and debates, visits were organized to important religious facilities and landmarks of Belfast related to the conflict (including the Orange Order Parade) accompanied with presentation on the conflict background.

The participants saw the benefits of the study visit in the established contacts, group work, and learning from the others positive examples.

Gallery:
 

Acronyms:
MCIC – Macedonian Centre for International Cooperation
MOC – Macedonian Orthodox Church
OTF – Orthodox Theology Faculty
IRC – Islamic Religious Community
FIS – Faculty of Islamic Science
CC – Catholic Church
UMC – United Methodist Church
JCRM – Jewish Community in the Republic of Macedonia