US embassy cable - 05VILNIUS959

UNCLAS VILNIUS 000959 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR R, EUR/PPD - JLOCKARD AND EUR/NB - GNOLL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KPAO, PREL, LH, HT46 
SUBJECT: PRESIDENT ATTENDS 9/11 INTERFAITH COMMEMORATION 
FOR TERRORISM VICTIMS 
 
Ref:  State 161551 
 
FIRST-EVER INTERFAITH GATHERING IN LITHUANIA 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
1.  The Embassy helped to organize an interfaith 
commemoration for the victims of terrorism at a Lutheran 
church in Vilnius on September 11.  The event represented 
the first large-scale  interfaith service ever held in 
Lithuania, and was covered by all major national media. 
Leaders from five faiths and Lithuanian President Valdas 
Adamkus participated in the program along with Ambassador 
Mull and his Russian, Spanish, Turkish and British 
colleagues.  The event garnered coverage on all Lithuanian 
media, especially TV.  The event was a major public 
diplomacy success; we estimate that more than half of the 
country's citizens saw coverage of the event.  End Summary. 
 
MULTI-NATIONAL AND MULTI-FAITH PARTICIPATION 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
2.  Post worked with the Vilnius faith community to 
organize an interfaith service in memory of the victims of 
terrorism in the four years since September 11, 2001.  The 
Ambassadors of Russia, Spain, Turkey and the U.K. joined 
Ambassador Mull in inviting the President, diplomatic 
colleagues, and citizens to attend the service.  The 
Lutheran community offered its church and Catholic, Mormon, 
Muslim and Orthodox leaders participated in the service.  A 
Jewish rabbi declined to participate but the Jewish 
community did send a representative to attend the service. 
The one-hour service  included readings and prayers from 
each cleric and musical performances by a youth choir, a 
father-and-son trumpet duet, and an organist.  President 
Adamkus and the five Ambassadors resident in Lithuania 
whose countries have suffered major terrorist attacks since 
9/11 presented wreaths.  The ceremony's 175 attendees 
included several other top-level officials, including the 
Commander of the Armed Forces, and many other members of 
the diplomatic community, including the Ambassadors of 
Germany, Sweden, Finland, and Ireland.  An as-yet 
undisclosed amount was collected by the church and will be 
donated to the International Red Cross/Red Crescent. 
 
FULL MEDIA COVERAGE 
------------------- 
 
3.  The media gave extensive coverage to the event.  All 
four national TV stations showed their coverage on the 
Sunday evening news.  The most popular station led off its 
evening newscast with a two-plus minute piece on the 
interfaith gathering.  National radio, internet media, 
press, and the wire services also covered the event.  Media 
quoted Ambassador Mull talking about the international 
nature of terrorism and the unity demonstrated by all the 
nations and faiths represented in the service.  President 
Adamkus spoke of the importance of unity and the symbolism 
of the interfaith service. 
 
4.  The media coverage of this post-initiated interfaith 
gathering reached an estimated two million of Lithuania's 
3.5 million people.  The coverage emphasized the unique 
nature of the event and the unity presented by all fronts 
in remembrance of those who suffered, in rejecting terror 
and in expressing resolve to combat terror in the future. 
The gathering also brought together religious figures who 
do not meet often. 
 
MULL