At the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions on Thursday, President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said that it is important to properly use the peacemaking potential of religions to strengthen dialogue at the global level.
"As the world becomes more and more turbulent in the post-pandemic period, it is more important than ever to develop new approaches to strengthen inter-civilizational dialogue and trust at the global level. I am convinced that today's forum will make a valuable contribution to this very important work," Tokayev said.
According to him, the participants of the congress shared important ideas and developed interesting proposals on the most topical questions. "We have clearly condemned both the policy of force and the language of violence, which contribute to the alienation of nations, undermining of statehood and breaking of international ties. Today, like never before, it is very important to use correctly the peacemaking potential of religions in order to unite the efforts of spiritual authorities in the search for long-term stability," the president of Kazakhstan emphasized.
He noted that all religions are based on humanitarian ideals, recognizing the importance of the supremacy of human life, the aspiration for peace and creation. "These fundamental principles must be reflected not only in the spiritual sphere, but also in the socio-economic development of various states and international politics as a whole," Tokayev explained.
Call for active peacemaking
Metropolitan Antonij of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate's Department for External Church Relations (DECR), speaking at the closing of the congress, urged representatives of different religions to participate more actively in peacemaking activities and not to stand aside from the problems existing in the world.
"Believers should not be alienated from the problems existing in the world, but take an active position, help in the creation of peace and understanding, participate in the healing of conflicts, and comfort those who suffer," the metropolitan said.
He noted that the final document of the congress has a number of very significant provisions. "I consider it right to think about the need to intensify cooperation between religious, national, international and public institutions, because today it is very important for the world to overcome differences and to stop the competition for global hegemony," said, in particular, the representative of the Russian Orthodox church.
In turn, the supreme imam of the world's largest Islamic university Al-Azhar Sheikh Ahmad el-Tayeb also called for closer cooperation of believers. "The peacemaking messages of religions will not achieve their goal until their followers unite and rally and become a force that should be aimed primarily at cleansing religious feelings from hatred and malice," said el-Tayeb.
The sheikh, in particular, drew attention to the fact that some of his fellow believers considered it "forbidden" for him to meet with the head of the Roman Catholic church, Pope Francis, on the margins of the Nur-Sultan congress, but when this happened, both the sheikh and the pontiff, according to el-Tayeb, felt that they "have known each other for many years."
The VII Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions was held on September 14-15 in the capital of Kazakhstan. About 100 delegations from 50 countries attended the event.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: official website of the President of the Russian Federation
Based on materials from TASS