European Congress of Ethnic Religions

European Congress of Ethnic Religions
Formation 1998
Type Ethnic and Traditional Paganism
Location
Membership
11 organisations (2014)
Founder
 Jonas Trinkunas
Key people
 Jonas Trinkunas, Vlassis Rassias
Website http://ecer-org.eu

The European Congress of Ethnic Religions (ECER) is an organisation for cooperation among associations that promote the ethnic religions of Europe [1] The primary goal of the ECER is the strengthening of pre-Christian ethnic religious traditions of Europe, emphasizing and fostering their ties with Neopagan movements with ethnic focuses which developed during the 1980s to 1990s.

History

As WCER

The first "World Pagan Congress" was hosted in June 1998 in Vilnius, Lithuania, organized by Jonas Trinkunas, the founder of Romuva, a Lithuanian neopagan organization. The renaming from "Pagan" to "Ethnic" was the result of a day-long passionate debate.[2] The congress was held under the name "World Congress of Ethnic Religions" during 1999 to 2010. The 2006 and 2009 conferences were held in India, in the spirit of collaboration between western Neopaganism and Hinduism.

As ECER

The intention of a worldwide scope was "more of a dream than reality", as the congress mostly consisted of representatives of neopagan movements in Europe. To reflect this, the organization was renamed "European Congress of Ethnic Religions" in 2010, acting on a suggestion by Trinkunas.[3]

Member organisations

Member organizations represent Baltic, Slavic, Germanic, Greek and Roman traditions. As of 2014 the member organizations of ECER are:

Former members:

Chronology of the congresses

  1. Vilnius, Lithuania (1998)
  2. Telsiai, Lithuania (1999)
  3. Bradesiai, Lithuania (2000)
  4. Vilnius, Lithuania (2001), with delegates from the Vishva Hindu Parishad
  5. Vilnius, Lithuania (2002)
  6. Vilnius, Lithuania (2003) "Global Initiatives for Ethnic Cultures and Religions"
  7. Athens, Greece (2004) "The High Values Of The Pre-Christian Ethnic Traditions and Religions"
  8. Antwerp, Flanders (2005) "Spirituality and Tradition in an Anti-Traditional World"
  9. Jaipur, India (2006) "Spirituality Beyond Religions", in cooperation with the International Centre of Cultural Studies and the World Congress of Elders of Ancient Cultures and Traditions
  10. Riga-Jurmala-Sigulda, Latvia (2007) "The Spirit Will See New Light in the Turn of Ages"
  11. Jędrzychowice, Poland (2008)
  12. Nagpur, India (2009)
  13. Bologna, Italy (2010) "Ethics in Contemporary World"
  14. Odense, Denmark (2012)
  15. Prague, Czech Republic (2013)

References

  1. ↑ "By Ethnic Religion, we mean religion, spirituality, and cosmology that is firmly grounded in a particular people's traditions. In our view, this does not include modern occult or ariosophic theories/ideologies, nor syncretic neo-religions. [...]The World Congress of Ethnic Religions was established in June 1998 at the initiative of delegates from 16 different countries (Europe, Asia and America). This happened in Vilnius, Lithuania, the last European country to resist the onslaught of Christianity." About ECER.
  2. ↑ Michael Strmiska, Modern Paganism in World Cultures: Comparative Perspectives, 2005 p. 276.
  3. ↑ "voglio rivalutare e ridefinire il termine con cui ci riferiamo a noi stessi. Mi riferisco a WCER – World Congress of Ethnic Religions (Congresso Mondiale delle Religioni Etniche). C’è una parola che suggerisco di discutere: il cambio del termine ‘mondiale’ con ‘europeo’. Perciò il nome dell’associazione cambierebbe in ECER – European Congress of Ethnic Religions (Congresso europeo delle Religioni Etniche)"
  4. ↑ http://davnyobycej.cz/ davnyobycej.cz
  5. ↑ http://www.fornsidr.dk/ fornsidr.dk
  6. ↑ http://www.romuva.lt
  7. ↑ http://www.ysee.gr/
  8. ↑ http://www.traditie.be
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