Македонски центар за меѓународна соработка - МЦМС

Prior to the implementation of the Building Religions in Macedonia (MSM) programme, the cooperation among the faith communities was insufficiently developed. There was a lack of communication, while the knowledge about the other religions was limited. The projects developed within the programme (Bulletin, Directory, Calendar, etc.) were aimed at developing the cooperation among the members of the faith communities, but also to learn more about the holidays, the celebrations, the fasting days and the important dates in the other religions. By paying respect to each other they could serve as a role model for the wider public.

The cooperation and mutual trust among the citizens of the Republic of Macedonia are some of the key factors for the development of sound democratic society. However, in order to achieve this goal it is necessary to understand the different cultures, traditions and religions. This is exactly the purpose of the interreligious calendars, as they try to introduce the citizens with the most important Orthodox, Islamic, Catholic, Protestant and Jewish holidays.

The overall objective of the project is to deepen the mutual cooperation of religious communities and to improve the understanding of the public at large about the religions.

The project purpose was to publish the interreligious calendars for 2008. The project targeted the members of the faith communities and the general public.

MCIC’s experience gained through the work with the faith communities in the previous years was utilized for preparation of the Religious Calendars for 2008. The first stage of the preparation of the calendar included data collection on holidays and fasting days of the religious communities in 2008. On December 3, 2007 the Publishing Council met to discuss the design of the calendar. After the coordination of various ideas the calendar was designed and printed. The calendar elaborated the holidays of the ethnic communities in Republic of Macedonia, as well as the most important international days dedicated to human rights and anti-discrimination. Total of 3,000 table calendars were printed in Macedonian and 2,000 in Albanian and English language each.