A seat for Zoroastrians

"Zarathushtis now have a full membership seat on the European Council of Religious Leaders (ECRL),” reports Jehangir Sarosh who used to previously attend as an ex officio member but is now elected to the Council and on to the executive committee after the last meeting in Lille, France.

The ECRL brings together senior religious leaders from Europe’s historical religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam, with Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs and Zoroastrians as active participants.

The Council, founded in Oslo in 2002, is funded by its 30 members and has received project support from The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It falls within the purview of the World Conference of Religions for Peace, the global network that brings together 51 national and four regional Inter-Religious Councils with its secretariat opposite the United Nations headquarters in New York.

The executive is constituted of six groups recognized by the ECRL — Catholics, Orthodox, Protestants, Jews, Muslims and ‘Other.’ Zoroastrians were included in the ‘Other’ group alongside representatives of the Buddhist, Hindu and Sikh religions that are new to Europe. "The Buddhists, Hindus and Sikhs nominated (me) to represent them on the executive committee,” writes Sarosh in an e-mail, adding, "This shows the great trust they have in our community. We can all be proud of the legacy of our forefathers.”