The Third Congress of the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions

    On July 1-2, 2009 Astana hosted the 3rd Congress of the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions.
     Delegations from different directions of three world religions, as well as traditional religions took part in the work of the Congress. Participation of more than 60 delegations from different religious confessions, honourable guests and representatives from international organizations, such as the United Nations, Islamic Conference Organization, OSCE and UNESCO are expected.
     The first day of Congress the plenary session start on a theme: "The role of religious leaders in construction of the world based on tolerance, mutual respect and cooperation".
     The second day of action devoted to the work in three sections: "Moral and cultural wealth, world ethics", "Dialogue and cooperation" and "Solidarity, especially in crises".
     Following the results of the Forum adopted the total document - Reference of the participants of the Third Congress.
     Within the frameworks of the Congress President of Republic of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev met with the Leaders of world religions and guests of honour such as Sheikh Mohammed Said Tantaui - the Supreme Imam of the University of Al-Azkhar, Mohamed Ahmed Sherif - Secretary General of the World Islamic Call Society, President of Papal Council on interreligious dialogue, the Cardinal Jean-Luis Tauran, Main Ashenazi Rabbin of Israel Yona Metzger, the Chief Sefardim Rabbin of Israel Shlomo Amar, President of Israel Simon Peres, the Assistant of the UN Secretary General, General Director of the European branch of United Nations Sergei Ordzhonikidze, the Secretary General of OSCE Mark Perren de Brishambo, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Spain Miguel Moratinos, the ex-Prime Minister of Norway Kjell Bondevik, Director of Secretariat of the Alliance of Civilizations Marc Scheuer etc.
    The Congress of the leaders of world and traditional religions has been internationally recognized as an effective dialogue platform for peace and consent advancement on our planet. Kazakhstan, being an example of successful model of interethnic and interconfessional consent, has become a venue for this unique forum.

Inter-Religious Harmony in Kazakhstan

     Today the Republic of Kazakhstan is a striking instance of peaceful coexistence of over 40 confessions and denominations as well as 130 nationalities and ethnic groups.
     Historically Kazakhstan was always a crossroad, a place of meeting and dialogue of various religions, cultures and civilizations of the East and West.
     The spiritual tolerance inherited from the cultural and ethical traditions of Kazakhs serves as a reliable foundation for maintaining the civil peace both in the present and future. Being an independent state, Kazakhstan ensured an absolute religious freedom to all Moslems, Orthodox Christians, Catholics, Protestants and Jews as well as other religious denominations. The nation saw a considerable quantitative and qualitative growth of religious institutions. Today, the total number of religious associations reached 4,173 while in 1990 it equalled 670.
     The number of Islamic associations grew from 46 to 2,441. There occurred almost five-fold growth in number of the Russian Orthodox Church parishes (from 62 to 293), two-fold increase of the Roman Catholic Church associations (from 42 to 86), Evangelical Baptist Christians communities (from 168 to 362) and Seventh Day Adventists (from 36 to 66). The quantity of Jehovah's Witnesses associations increased from 27 to 78, and that of Protestant alliance of new trends jumped from 13 to 540.
     Religious associations own 3,129 cultic buildings, including 2,229 mosques, 258 Orthodox and 93 Catholic churches, 6 synagogues and over five hundred Protestant churches and prayer houses.
     Currently 384 missioners from over 20 foreign countries work in the Republic of Kazakhstan while in 1990 there wereonly 12 people.
     Religious organizations periodically publish 38 newspapers.
    The Moslem Id al-Adha and Orthodox Christmas are national holidays in Kazakhstan.
     Upon the initiative of the Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev the city of Astana hosted two Congresses of World and Traditional Religions Leaders in 2003 and 2006. Those forums demonstrated not only the applicability of the country’s foreign policy but also proved the effectiveness of the unique Kazakhstani model of inter-confessional collaboration.
     The upcoming Third Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions 2009 to be held again in Astana will become the next step in strengthening the relationship between the confessions and contribute to the global dialogue of civilizations.
     The Kazakhstan model of inter-relations between the state and religious organizations is based on democratic principles respecting the believers' rights and freedoms, on equality of public and religious interests, partnership and strive for mutual understanding. This is an outcome of the targeted policy of the Head of the State, Mr. Nazarbayev N.
     With respect to obligations concerning the believers' rights, Kazakhstan effectively collaborates with the Office for Democratic Institutes and Human Rights of OSCE.
     Close cooperation with the OSCE Office in the city of Almaty contributed to establishing in the country of the regulatory framework focused on equality of rights and freedoms of all citizens regardless of their religious and ethnic background.
     The Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan "On Freedom of Belief and Religious Organizations" was adopted in 1992 and never changed in its essence despite occasional problems arising in the religious sphere and national-confessional relations.
     Last year the Parliament has completed debates concerning the Draft Law "On amendments and additions to some legislative acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan on the Issues of Freedom of Belief and Religious Organizations" initiated by a group of deputies last spring. In February 2009 the Draft Law was rejected by the Constitutional Council of Kazakhstan. The Chair of the Constitutional Council, Igor Rogov said that the proposed Law is not in accord with the Constitution and so "cannot be signed and brought into force".
     Congress of the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions
    

President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev as the Head of State and politician, in full measure realizing the increased role of the religion in the society, put forward the initiative of holding a forum of world and traditional religions in the capital of the Republic of Kazakhstan - city of Astana. Earlier the organizers of similar events were only representatives of leading religions and denominations. Among other similar events aimed at establishing interdenominational dialogue were the meetings of representatives of world religions and denominations held in Italian city Assisi in October 1986 and January 2002.
     The idea of the President of Kazakhstan is that the dialogue between the leaders of world and traditional religions formed on common aspects and exact information on each other opens wide prospects for mutual cooperation and contributes to overcoming such negative manifestations of our time as violence, fanaticism, extremism and terrorism. The dialogue of the religions as the conceptual idea of the First Congress and means of disputes settling was opposed to methods of violence and terror in the interdenominational and interethnic relations.
    An initiative by Kazakhstan that gained worldwide recognition was the setting up of a unique “spiritual platform” for interfaith dialogue, the Forum for Representatives of World Religions. Kazakhstan’s experience in establishing a peaceful dialogue of faiths is truly invaluable for contemporary world community.
    Many religious figures understand clearly the necessity and importance of inter-religious reconciliation and are taking specific steps towards its bringing this about. In this respect the Congress of the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions has been a major contribution by Kazakhstan to the global process of inter-cultural dialogue. It justifiably occupies a special place in the efforts by the world community towards strengthening principles of toleration, mutual understanding, dialogue and cooperation.
    Kazakhstan’s initiative, which is supported by the United Nations, is a very timely measure. Over the last few years the Congress has gained wide recognition from other major international forums, as the Alliance of Civilizations, the Community of St Egidio, the Asia House, the Tony Blair Foundation and many others all have expressed their intention to participate in it’s work. An important proposal by Kazakhstan is that the third Congress should be held in an enlarged format which would include both a plenary and sectional sessions.
    It was proposed that the theme of the plenary session of the 3rd Congress should be identified as “The Role of Religious Leaders in Building a Tolerant World in Conditions of Globalization”. During the separate thematical sessions the participants at the Congress would be able to hold discussions on five thematic blocks. These would include moral values, peace and security, the environment and harmony, genuine dialogue and cooperation, and promoting justice. Such a format would allow religious leaders to exchange views on topical contemporary problems, to set forth their vision of inter-faith reconciliation in specific countries and regions, and to give their appraisal and their recommendations on this matter.

     Source: The Consulate General of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Hong Kong