Formation 1998 | Founder Jonas Trinkunas | |
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Type Ethnic and Traditional Paganism Membership 11 organisations (2014) Key people Jonas Trinkunas, Vlassis Rassias | ||
The European Congress of Ethnic Religions (ECER) is an organisation for the cooperation among associations that promote the ethnic religions of Europe The primary goal of the ECER is the strengthening the pre-Christian ethnic religious traditions of Europe, emphasizing and fostering their ties with the Neopagan movements with ethnic focus which had developed during the 1980s to 1990s.
Contents
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. 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" on 2010, acting on a suggestion by Trinkunas.
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
- Vilnius, Lithuania (1998)
- Telsiai, Lithuania (1999)
- Bradesiai, Lithuania (2000)
- Vilnius, Lithuania (2001), with delegates from the Vishva Hindu Parishad
- Vilnius, Lithuania (2002)
- Vilnius, Lithuania (2003) "Global Initiatives for Ethnic Cultures and Religions"
- Athens, Greece (2004) "The High Values Of The Pre-Christian Ethnic Traditions and Religions"
- Antwerp, Flanders (2005) "Spirituality and Tradition in an Anti-Traditional World"
- 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
- Riga-Jurmala-Sigulda, Latvia (2007) "The Spirit Will See New Light in the Turn of Ages"
- Jędrzychowice, Poland (2008)
- Nagpur, India (2009)
- Bologna, Italy (2010) "Ethics in Contemporary World"
- Odense, Denmark (2012)
- Prague, Czech Republic (2013)