The meeting of religious leaders in Astana

From the annual Congress of leaders of religions in Kazakhstan, which was also attended by Pope Francis last year, the invitation to cultivate solid and non-artificial moral values as an antidote to the "clash of civilisations". The creation of a Forum of young religious leaders proposed

Astana (AsiaNews) - The XI Congress of the leaders of traditional world religions was held in Astana, whose previous session in September 2022 was also attended by Pope Francis, and which brought together representatives from 23 countries.

At the Peace Palace, in the center of the Kazakh capital, representatives of Islam, the various Christian confessions, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Shintoism and other religions sat around a table, together with members of various international organizations , finally approving a joint declaration. Present for the Holy See was the new apostolic nuncio to Kazakhstan, Msgr. George Panamthundil, recently installed in Astana.

At the beginning of the assembly, the president of the Senate of Kazakhstan, Maulen Ašimbaev, read the message of President Kasym-Žomart Tokaev to the participants, in which the now twenty-year path of these meetings, born from the intuition of his predecessor Nursultan, was recalled Nazarbaev to overcome the negative memory of the atheist persecutions of the Soviet period.

According to Tokaev, “the Congress of Religious Leaders made a very significant contribution to strengthening interreligious peace and harmony, to the growth of the ideal of tolerance and mutual support, helping to solve many problems.”

These values become even more indispensable in the face of the many conflicts underway in recent years, "morality, goodness, humanism are increasingly needed" - reiterates the president - "to form a new international security system, and global forces are needed who intervene in favor of peace and stability".

Religious leaders can play a very important role, as problems and conflicts can no longer be limited to local dimensions. Ašimbaev underlined that the format of the Congress, which provides for a very open and authoritative dialogue, aims to "establish a climate of mutual respect between all parties, at a global level".

In the interventions, many observed that the real current danger is the so-called "clash of civilisations", which also involves religions in armed and information conflicts.

For this reason, the foundations of contemporary society must be truly solid and non-artificial moral and religious values, which educate a new culture of tolerance, which takes into account the increasingly accentuated sensitivities of the new generations.

All this was already well outlined in the Declaration of the VII Congress of 2018, and taken up in a timely and in-depth manner in subsequent documents, up to this year's.

President Tokaev had also underlined at the 78th UN Assembly that "Kazakhstan supports interreligious and interconfessional dialogue with all its strength, as indispensable elements for building peace", while "the actions of provocateurs, who for interests personals try to manipulate people's religious feelings."

The burning of sacred books and outrages against religious symbols are "acts of vandalism that incite hatred between peoples and religions, and must be condemned by all without hesitation", because "they have nothing in common with freedom of expression".

The development perspective of the Congress' actions for the next decade 2023-2033 was outlined, seeking closer collaboration with institutions linked to the UN and other international structures, broadening the circle of participants and the geography of the forum's activities.

Religious leaders must be consulted to address the most acute global problems, poverty and injustice, migration and social disintegration, and above all the cessation of wars and conflicts. It is proposed to create the institute of "goodwill ambassadors" of the Congress, and also to convene forums for younger religious leaders.

During the meeting, the collaborators of the Congress Secretariat were also awarded, with Kazakhstan state honors and memorial medals. The final communique also recalls the Initiative for the World Unity of Peoples, which Kazakhstan proposed as rotating president of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and the cancellation of the special stamp for the twentieth anniversary of the Congress was added , which will be distributed in 10 thousand pieces, to be added to the philatelic catalogs of the whole world.

Photo: X Unaoc profile