(Agencies): Pope Francis arrived for the 7th Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions held in Nur-Sultan, the capital city of Kazakhstan, on September 13. He participated in the opening and plenary sessions of the congress on September 14, and was scheduled to greet participants from around 100 nations.
“It is time to realise that fundamentalism defiles and corrupts every creed,” he told the plenary session.
“We need religion in order to respond to the thirst for world peace and the thirst for the infinite that dwells in the heart of each man and woman,” the pope said
The pope’s presence lifts the profile of the interreligious congress, according to Professor Azza Karam, secretary general of Religions for Peace. “He is seen as a religious leader who articulates the moral responsibilities and even clarifies what needs to be done in order to heal communities and to prevent conflict,” Karam said, adding, “So, his role will continue to be to map out the how and why of resolving and avoiding conflicts, including of living more peacefully with ourselves as people of faith.”
It is the second time a pope has visited Kazakhstan. Pope St. John Paul II visited the country in September 2001. Catholics make up around one per cent of Kazakhstan’s population of 19 million, 70 per cent of which is Muslim, and 25 per cent Christian, mostly Russian Orthodox. The trip will also introduce Catholics around the world to a country many know little about.
Father Ruslan Rakhimberlinov, the rector of the Catholic seminary in Karaganda, says the local community is blessed to host the pope in their homeland. “For us, the visit of Pope Francis to Kazakhstan is an opportunity for our small Catholic community here, our ‘small flock’ in Kazakhstan, to gain some momentum,” he said.
In addition to participating in the congress, Pope Francis will celebrate a public Mass in Nur-Sultan on September 14 that is expected to draw up to 3,000 pilgrims from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan,
