Comments
NO MATTER RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS, ALL PEOPLE HAVE TO BE UNITED BY PEACE AND TOLERANCE – NUSSBAUMER
Infotag’s exclusive interview with Austrian journalist Heinz Nussbaumer.
Heinz Nussbaumer is a prominent Austrian journalist, the author of a number of books on inter-religion dialog. For nearly 20 years he had been Editor-in-Chief of the influential Austrian newspaper Kurier. In 1990-1999, he held the post of Press Secretary of the President of Austria. Since 2003, Heinz Nussbaumer has been issuing Die Furche magazine. In late March 2010, he visited Chisinau and presented to Moldovan readers his new book called Der Moench in Mir [A Monk Inside Me], dedicated to his pilgrimage to Holy Mt. Athos.
Question: Mr. Nussbaumer, your coming to Moldova on the eve of Easter looks symbolic. What prompted you to visit our country?
Answer: First and foremost, I would like to say that I commenced my pilgrimages to Holy Mt. Athos 25 years ago. Before that, I had long worked in the field of international journalism, and studied the history and nature of conflicts. For nearly a decade, I headed the presidential press service and was Press Secretary of the President of Austria. In a word, my life had quite many strained and even stress-like situations. I then began desperately looking for a place where I could have come to and switch myself off whatever civilization for a week – telephone, fax and other stress factors. Eventually I arrived at a conclusion that the only place in Europe where nobody can reach me, including the President of Austria, was Holy Mount Athos, a center of the Orthodoxy, situated in Greece, where there is no electricity, or telephone communication – nothing. There, a new world opened for me, with unbelievable landscapes, with the incredibly charming architecture of cave monasteries. After that, I started coming back to that place again and again, making acquaintance of new people, primarily with Orthodox monks. This is what my book Der Moench in Mir [A Monk Inside Me] is about.
Q: But you are not an Orthodox Christian, are you?
A: No. I am a Catholic. But that did not matter at Athos. There, I felt great love coming from Orthodox monks. They willingly shared their vast life experience with me, their wisdom and knowledge of civilization. A paradox is, most citizens of Western European countries, wishing a spiritual purification, prefer to go to Tibet or Egypt, seeking to find pacification there. They have no idea that in Europe, too, one can learn from Christianity much of the spiritual, and can approach answering the question of “what is the art of life?” and particularly in the Orthodox Christianity. I would call Christianity in Western Europe a religion of the mind, and Christianity in Eastern Europe – a religion of the heart. It is characteristic of Mt. Athos that pilgrims coming there begin feeling as if the place belongs exclusively to each of them, along with the knowledge monks share with them. Once I even said to myself that I will leave this experience with me, and shall never share it with my readers. Later, however, I came to realize that there is a great number of people of different religions, who seek to enrich themselves spiritually, but have no possibility of visiting the cradle of Orthodoxy – the Holy Mt. Athos. For nine days without a stop, I was writing the book, which I now propose to readers.
Q: Did you present your book in other countries?
A: It has been translated into 10 languages of Orthodox countries. Recently, its Romanian-language version was presented in Iasi city in the presence of the Orthodox Metropolitan and the Catholic Bishop of Romania. I was much surprised to see that in 2008 the book became a bestseller in Austria, along with tourism guides and cookbooks. This success does not belong to me. Simply, people are increasingly feeling interest for spiritual values. Besides this, the book is not dedicated to a concrete denomination – Orthodoxy, Catholicism or Protestantism. The book is not binding. Nevertheless, I must say without false modesty, I saw Athos monks reading it eagerly during a lunch break. It has become a bridge between the Western and Eastern Orthodoxy, between Austria and Eastern Europe, including Moldova.
Q: I guess you know that our medieval King Stefan cel Mare waged wars in defense of Athos monasteries…
A: Of course I do. I would even say more: we would hardly have the Orthodox monasteries at the Holy Mt. Athos nowadays if they had not been defended in due time by such devoted churchwardens, including by Moldova’s outstanding King Stefan cel Mare.
Q: Presently, Moldova is coming across serious problems caused by the economic crisis. In addition, things are aggravated by political difficulties. Can spiritual enrichment help overcome them?
A: Each religion proceeds from the assumption that it is the ultimate truth. But it is no so. All religions are true. I am the founder of a Moslem-Christian Center, where I try to prove in practice that the truth is one for all. And the truth is: each religion, besides reasons for violence, has firm fundamentals that strive for peace. Peace, not violence, must unite us all. That’s how conflicts are overcome.
Q: Would you mind sharing your outlooks with our citizens in public?
A: Yes, I have already received an invitation from your minister of culture. He regards it is interesting and useful to hear a Catholic speak of Orthodoxy. So, in the near future I will hopefully come back to Chisinau for this.
Infotag: Thank you very much for your interview, Mr. Nussbaumer. Even though you are a Catholic, please accept our congratulations on the approaching Orthodox Easter.
