Twenty years at the service of Barcelona’s religious and spiritual communities (2005-2025) #OarBCN #20OAR
The Office for Religious Affairs (OAR) turns twenty (2005–2025), two decades of direct, familiar and ongoing links with the city’s religious and spiritual communities. The OAR has been a space for dialogue, recognition and support, accompanying these communities in their development, visibility and participation in people’s lives.
To mark the anniversary, five people have been interviewed with roles linked to the Office of Religious Affairs to talk about the past, present and future of the OAR and the city’s commitment to religious and spiritual pluralism:
- Daniel Santillo, representing Jabad Lubavitch Barcelona
- Manuel Zamora i Negrillo, director of the Secretariat Diocesà de Germandats i Confraries de l’Arxidiòcesi de Barcelona
- Marta López i Ballalta, pastor with the Església Protestant Barcelona-Centre
- Mohammad Iqbal Chauhdry, spokesman for the Centre Islàmic Camí de la Pau
- Montse Castellà i Olivé, founder and promoter of the Coordinadora Catalana d’Entitats Budistes (CCEB)
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Since its beginnings, the OAR (formerly the Barcelona Interreligious Centre) has worked closely with the city’s religious and spiritual communities, listening to them, advising them and providing them with tools for their everyday management. At the same time, the office has helped to guarantee the effective exercise of the right to religious freedom and awareness, enabling these communities to freely live and express their convictions with dignity.
The office has maintained a solid commitment to diversity, pluralism and people’s rights, recognising religion and spirituality as an essential part of the city’s social and cultural make-up.
In a changing context, the OAR has managed to adapt to new challenges and maintain its role as a bridge between communities, citizens and the public administration, achieving a more cohesive and inclusive city, respectful towards religious and spiritual pluralism.
These twenty years are also an opportunity to reaffirm this commitment and recognise the contribution of religious and spiritual communities in the construction of a living, plural and fair Barcelona .
WATCH THE VIDEO!
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- 11 JUNE: INSTITUTIONAL CEREMONY AND ROUND TABLES
- 18 JUNE: ROUTE “Religious pluralism, memory and urban transformations” (organised by Espai Avinyó and the OAR)