The 22nd session of the Secretariat of the Congress of World Leaders and Traditional Religions is underway in Kazakhstan’s capital, Astana, today.
Presided over by Kazakhstan Senate Speaker Maulen Ashimbayev, who is also Head of the Congress Secretariat, the meeting is discussing the agenda of the upcoming 8th Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religious, Asia-Plus’s correspondent reports from Astana.
The session reportedly brought together about 30 religious leaders and heads of relevant international organizations from 20 countries of the world, including Azerbaijan. Vatican, the United Kingdom, Egypt, Israel, India, Iran, Qatar, China, Saudi Arabia, Mongolia, he United Arab Emirates (UAE), Pakistan, Portugal, Russia, Korea, Thailand, Switzerland, Japan and Kazakhstan.
Heads of Kazakhstan’s religious association representing Islam, Orthodox Christianity, Catholicism, Lutheranism and Judaism are participating in the Secretariat work.
The peculiarity of the Secretariat’s current meeting is that it provide platform to discuss issues related to the progress of promotion of the Concept of Development of the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religious designed for 2023-2033.
One of priorities of the 22nd session is to determine the date and the central theme of the plenary session of the 8th Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religious and the themes of its panel sessions. The 8th Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religious is scheduled to be held in Astana in the fall next year.
On October 9, the Forum of Young Religious Leaders will take place in Astana on the sidelines of the 22nd session of the Secretariat of the Congress of World Leaders and Traditional Religions in order to ensure the continuity of generations in order to ensure that the next generation of leaders also interact, contribute to the solution of global problems of humanity.
The main purpose of the Forum is to create a platform for dialogue and exchange of youth achievements, as well as to discuss the most pressing problems faced by the younger generation.
Initiated by the first President of Kazakhstan Nursulatn Nazarbayev, the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions is held once every three years in Kazakhstan’s capital, Astana.
The first Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions came to life following the September 11 attacks on the United States in 2001, along with Pope John Paul II's second 'Spirit of Assisi' meeting in 2002. The Congress has grown from 17 delegations in the 1st Congress to over 100 participants, including Pope Francis, in the 7th Congress.
The Congress attempts to foster mutual recognition among religious leaders and facilitate their constructive cooperation in addressing social, cultural, and religious issues.
The Congress is regularly attended by representatives of the clergy from Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Shintoism, Taoism, and other traditional religions.
The mission of the Congress is to strengthen further mutual understanding and respect between communities of world and traditional religions, to realize the potential of spiritual diplomacy to help create a just, safe and prosperous future. The key element of the development paradigm of the Congress is to unite the efforts of religious leaders in facilitating solutions to the humankind’s most pressing problems.
