Dialogue partners • Thomas Schirrmacher

A nice photo from the Panel discussion organised by the Hanns-Seidel-Foundation at the Security Conference in Munich in February 2019, where I talked with the Syrian-Orthodox Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II and the Chaldean-Catholic Patriarch Louis Raphaël I Sako, who both reported most evil developments for Christianity in Syria and Iraq.⁣

With the influential Pakistani Senator Faisal Javed Khan: Hoping and praying that he does not only help Asia Bibi but all Christians in his country. (Photo: Bashy Quraishy)

In Abu Dhabi with the former Director General of the UNESCO, Mrs Irina Georgieva Bokova from Bulgaria, and Pietro Cardinal Parolin, the Prime Minister of the Vatican.

In discussion with the new majority leader in the German Federal Parlament (Deutscher Bundestag) after a debate in parliament on religious freedom. In the middle Uwe Heimowski, the Ambassador of the Evangelical Alliance in Germany to the Parlament and Government.

In Berlin with Armen Sargsyan, born 1953 in Erewan, professor of physics, Ambassador, Prime Minister of Armenia from November 1996 to mArch 1997 and since April 2018 for seven years President of the Republic of Armenia.

In discussion with Ilir Meta, since mid 2017 President of Albania, before President of the Parliament and Prime Minister of Albania.

The Federal Minister of Health, Jens Spahn (CDU), lectured at Bonn Universities „BAPP“ (Institute for Practical Politics) on the need to strengthen the middle camp of the voters

Conversion with Germany’s federal minister of justice, Katarina Barley, during the Ahmadiyya Jalsa Salana in Karlsruhe

With Patriarch Matias of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church.

Pile of books for the Patriarch Matias of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, with 40 million members the largest of the old-oriental churches. His full title is The Patriarch (Abuna) of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, His Holiness Abune Mathias I, Sixth Patriarch and Catholicos of Ethiopia, Archbishop of Axum and Ichege of the See of Saint Taklehaimanot.

Dr. José Ramos-Horta, Friedensnobelpreisträger und Präsident von Timor-Leste 2007-2012 und Schirrmacher

Prof. Dr. Ingo Hofmann representing the Bahai-community in Germany, and Thomas Schirrmacher, 2017

Member of Parlament of Pakistan and Thomas Schirrmacher in Berlin

EU-Envoy on religious freedom Jan Figel and Thomas Schirrmacher, 2017

US-Ambassador for Religious Freedom David N. Saperstein (til 2017) und Schirrmacher

UN-Special Rapporteur on ForB Ahmed Shaheed and Thomas Schirrmacher, 2017

The Armenian Patriarch and Catholicos Karekin II. from Echmiadzin, Armenia

With the President of the National Congress of Costa Rica, Gonzalo Ramirez

With Grand Imam of Lahore in the largest mosque in the world with 100.000 visitors (2017)

With “Grandfather” Haxhi Baba Edmond Brahimaj, Head of the Bektaschi Muslims

With the Albanian President Buhar Nishani (2015)

With Archbishop Hilarion Alfeyev, Metroplit of Volokolamsk and Chair of the Department of External Church Relations of the Patriarchate of Moscow

In discussion with Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, Vice President of the European Parliament, during the general assembly of ISHR in Bonn

With the Ambassador of North Korea in Brasilia

With Can Dündar, many years editor of Cumhuriyet in Turkey, now in exile in Germany

In the German Parliamentary Society at the Deutsche Bundestag in discussion about peace and reconciliation with the Prime Minister of the Central African Republic, Simplice Mathieu Sarandji (Mitte), and his chief of cabinet Minister Maxime Balalou.

With the President of Lebanon.

With Chancellor Angela Merkel at the evening of the opening of the „Deutscher Evangelischer Kirchentag“.

Thomas Schirrmacher and Foreign Minister Aloysio Nunes Ferreira Filho at the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

With Miloslav Kardinal Vlk, til 2010 Archbishop of Prague. He played a major role in the reconciliation between the Czech Republic and Germany

With archbishop Robert Zollitsch, who was chairman of the German Conference of Bishops until 2014, at the Seat of the archbishop in Munich

Left to rigth: Governor David Beasly, the Hungarian Minister Zoltán Balog, the Minister of the Interior of Bavaria

Left to right: Bishop July – Lutheran Church of Württemberg, Bishop Bedford-Strohm – Lutheran Church of Bavaria, Schirrmacher

With the Syriac Orthodox Metropolitan of Damascus

With Lic. Caridad Diego Bello, Chief of the Office of Religious Concerns of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba (with orange jacket) and two of her staff

In discussion with Juan de la Caridad García Rodríguez, Catholic Archbishop of San Cristóbal de la Habana and President of the Catholic Bishop’s Conference

Bishops at a recent meeting of the Global Christian Forum in Cuba: second from right: the Catholic Archbishop of Havanna, second from left: the Syrian-Orthodox Archbishop of Mount Lebanon near Beirut

Commander in Chief of the Lebanese Army (2015)

Meeting the Coptic Pope and other Patriarchs from the Middle East, Beirut (2015)

The Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I. in Istanbul is the historic head of all Orthodox Churches (2010)

With Volker Beck, MP, and Daniyel Demir, President of the Federal Council of the Arameans

With the German Federal Minister of Finance Wolfgang Schäule and the Franz Josef Jung, the representative to the churches of Mrs Merkel’s party in the German federal parliament and former Minister of Defence

With Manmohan Singh, Secretary General of the World Sikh Council – AR (2014)

Thomas Schirrmacher with the presidents of the German and Austrian Bishops Conference, Cardinal Marx and Cardinal Schönborn, Munich and Vienna, in the hall of the synod building of the Vatican (2015)

Rare picture: With the Patriarchs of Alexandria and of Antiochia in the same room (2015)

Minister of the Interior, Hungary (2015)

Ukrainian-Orthodox Patriarch

Romanian-Orthodox Patriarch

The Rum-Orthodox Patriarch Johannes X. Yazigi is head of all orthodox Christians with Arabic liturgy

With Rick Warren in the Vatican (2014)

Dr Adolfo Roitman, director of the Shrine of the Book, Jerusalem, after a private tour (2012)

With the Bavarian Minister of the Interior Joachim Hermann in Washington

Pope Benedict XVI.

With the presiding bishop of the Protestant State Church Nikolaus Schneider and the Catholic archbishop Ludwig Schick in the German parliament

On the podium of the International Berlin Gathering with Prof. Dr. Rita Süssmuth, former longterm President of the German parliament Deutscher Bundestag (2013)

Mit dem Parlamentspräsidenten von Bangladesch (2013)

Ich begleite zwei iranische Parlamentsmitglieder, einer Muslim, einer Christ, im Deutschen Bundestag (2013)

Kirchenführer treffen den damaligen Ministerpräsidenten von Thailand zu Gesprächen über Religionsfreiheit (2008)

Kardinal Turkson aus Ghana ist der Präsident des Päpstlichen Rates Justitia et Pax (2011)

Mit dem damaligen Vorsitzenden des Menschenrechtsausschuss der UN im Auswärtigen Amt (2008)

The President of Bosnia and Herzegovina 1999-2001, Živko Radišić

Meeting the representatives of the Sikhs, the heads of the Sikh communities in three Asian countries (2011)

Pope Francis

Cardinal Turkson from Ghana is the head of the Pontifical Council “Iustitia et Pax” (2011)

A rare meeting with both Presidents of the Parlaments of the two Sudans, one a Muslim, one a Christian.

In discussion with the President of the Czech Supreme Court during a hearing for a new Czech family law in Prag

Discussing religious freedom and human rights with the (Muslim) President of Albania in his office.

With the ambassador of Mali, the only Muslim country with full democracy and religious freedom, in front of Münster castle, with the ambassadors on the pin on my lapel (17.11.2009)

Together with the ambassador of Iraq to Germany (17.11.2009)

With Prof. Dr. Abdullah Saeed from the Maledives, Quran scholar, professor of Islam at Melbourne University, spearhead for religious freedom in the Islamic world, Istanbul (April 2009)

With Günther Nooke, Human Rights Ambassador of the German federal government, and director of the ‘Deutsche Welle’ (DW, German federal radio), after my speech at the Global Media Forum (official press photo of DW. Photo: DW/K. Danetzki)

Günther Nooke has an impressive balance in his commitment for human rights and religous freedom since 2006 (April 2009)

In discussion with Asma Jahangir, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, at the State University of Bamberg (Bavaria) (20/2/2009)