Source: www.akorda.kz
The work of the VII Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions began with a moment of silence for prayer.
Opening the plenary session “The role of leaders of world and traditional religions in the spiritual and social development of mankind in the post-pandemic period”, the Head of State noted that it is a great honor for Kazakhstan to bring together the most respected spiritual leaders of the world and establish a dialogue. The President expressed his respects to the Head of the Vatican and the Catholic Church, Pope Francis, the Supreme Imam of the oldest Islamic university “Al-Azhar” Sheikh Ahmad al-Tayeb, representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church, Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi of Israel David Lau, Chief Sephardic Rabbi of Israel Yitzhak Joseph, all participants forum.
– I thank you all for accepting our invitation and coming to Kazakhstan. This testifies to our common interest in preserving peace and strengthening the intercivilizational dialogue. In an era of change and uncertainty, today’s meeting is of particular importance. Our Congress has become one of the key global formats for dialogue between civilizations. It is symbolic that the initiative to hold this interreligious forum came from Kazakhstan. Our ancient land has acted as a connecting bridge between East and West for thousands of years. Here, in the Great Steppe, the heart of huge nomadic empires beat, part of the cultural code of which was invariably religious tolerance, – said Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
Chairman of the Civic Peace Association – Ruslan Kazkenov 
President of Kazakhstan – Kassym-Jomart Tokayev 
Head of the Vatican and the Catholic Church Pope Francis 
President of the Civic Peace Association – Kazbek Kazkenov
Source: www.akorda.kz
