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MINUTES OF THE XXIV SESSION OF THE SECRETARIAT OF THE CONGRESS OF THE LEADERS OF WORLD AND TRADITIONAL RELIGIONS

 

MINUTES
OF THE XXIV SESSION OF THE SECRETARIAT OF THE CONGRESS
OF THE LEADERS OF WORLD AND TRADITIONAL RELIGIONS


On 7 October 2026, the XXIV Session of the Secretariat of the Congress of the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions was held in Astana under the chairmanship of Erlan Karin, Vice President of the Republic of Kazakhstan and Head of the Secretariat of the Congress of the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions.

The meeting was attended by:

REPRESENTATIVES OF ISLAM (7):

  • Abdelrahman Moussa – Adviser to the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar for International Relations (Egypt).
  • Mohammed Abdulwahid Alarifi – Adviser to the Minister of Islamic Affairs, Dawah and Guidance of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia).
  • Sheikh-ul-Islam Allahshukur Pashazade – Chairman of the Caucasus Muslims Board (Azerbaijan).
  • Osama Fakhry – Head of the Central Department for Mosques and the Holy Quran of the Ministry of Awqaf of the Arab Republic of Egypt, doctor (Egypt).
  • Fatih Mehmet Karaca – Deputy President of the Presidency of Religious Affairs of the Republic of Türkiye (Türkiye).
  • Ali Akbar Ziaei – Head of the Center for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue of the Organization for Culture and Islamic Relations of the Islamic Republic of Iran, doctor (Iran).
  • Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq – Vice Chancellor of the University of Narowal, doctor (Pakistan).

REPRESENTATIVES OF CHRISTIANITY (6):

  • Nectarios – Representative of the Patriarch of the Holy City of Jerusalem in Istanbul (Israel).
  • Igor Vyzhanov – Deputy Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate (DECR), archpriest (Russian Federation).
  • Laurent Basanese – Head of the Office of the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue of the Holy See (Vatican).
  • Rostislav Novgorodov – Primate of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Republic of Kazakhstan, Representative of the Lutheran World Federation, bishop (Kazakhstan).
  • Jo Bailey Wells – Deputy Secretary General of the Anglican Communion, Bishop for Episcopal Ministry in the Anglican Communion (United Kingdom).
  • Elder Marcus B. Nash – Member of the Presidency of the Seventy, Head of the Church in the Eurasia Region (USA).

REPRESENTATIVES OF JUDAISM (2):

  • Avinoam Yehonatan Kutcher – Special Representative of the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel (Israel).
  • David Antebi Sakka – Adviser to the Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel (Israel).

REPRESENTATIVE OF THE BAHÁ’Í FAITH (1):

  • David Rutstein – Secretary-General of the Bahá’í International Community, doctor (Israel).

REPRESENTATIVE OF BUDDHISM (1):

  • Qiu Shuang – Vice President of the Buddhist Association of China, President of the Jiangsu Buddhist Association (China).

REPRESENTATIVE OF TAOISM (1):

  • Sun Xiao – Deputy Secretary-General of the Chinese Taoist Association, Chairman of the Management Committee of Beijing Dongyue Temple, taoist (China).

REPRESENTATIVE OF SHINTO (1):

  • Megumi Abe – Head of the International Department of the Education Center of the Association of Shinto Shrines “Jinja Honcho” (Japan).

REPRESENTATIVE OF HINDUISM (1):

  • Pallavi Nalawade Jambhale – Dean and Director of the Institute of Dharma Studies, Somaiya Vidyavihar University, doctor (India).

REPRESENTATIVES OF INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS (4):

  • Abdulrahman Abdullah Al-Zaid – Deputy Secretary-General of the Muslim World League for Corporate Communications (Saudi Arabia).
  • Nihal Saad – Director of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations.
  • Mohamed Abdelsalam – Secretary-General of the Muslim Council of Elders (UAE).
  • Marwan Sarwar Gill – Commissioner of the OAS (Organization of American States) for Freedom of Religion, imam (Argentina).

POLITICAL AND PUBLIC FIGURES (1):

  • Afra Mohammed Alsaabri – Director General of the Ministry of Tolerance and Coexistence (UAE).

REPRESENTATIVES OF RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATIONS OF KAZAKHSTAN (4):

  • Nauryzbay Haji Taganuly – Chairman of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Kazakhstan, Supreme Mufti.
  • Sergiy Karamyshev – Archimandrite of the Assumption Cathedral.
  • Tomasz Bernard Peta – Metropolitan Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Mary in Astana.
  • Yeshaya Elazar Cohen – Chief Rabbi of Kazakhstan.

REPRESENTATIVES OF THE REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN (5):

  • Erlan Karin – Vice President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Head of the Secretariat of the Congress of the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions.
  • Yerzhan Ashikbayev – Deputy Head of the Secretariat of the Congress of the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions, First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
  • Rustam Ali – Deputy Head of the Secretariat of the Congress of the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions, Vice Minister of Culture and Information of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
  • Kanatbek Zhaisanbayev – Deputy Chairman of the Kazakhstan Halyk Kenesi – Head of the Secretariat of the Kazakhstan Halyk Kenesi.
  • Gulsana Kozhabay – Chair of the Board of the International Center for Interfaith and Interreligious Dialogue.

The following agenda was approved at the XXIV Session of the Secretariat of the Congress:

  1. Presentation of the joint documents “The Role of Religions in Combating Climate Change” and “Code of Ethics for the Use of Artificial Intelligence in Religious Contexts”
  2. Presentation of the “Charter of Rights of the Child with an Incurable Disease”.
  3. Determination of the date and venue of the XXV Session of the Secretariat of the Congress of the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions.
  4. Adoption of the Minutes of the XXIV Session of the Secretariat of the Congress of the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions.

During the XXIV Session of the Secretariat of the Congress, a fruitful and constructive exchange of views took place on all items of the agenda.

All members of the Secretariat made statements and participated in discussions on the above-mentioned issues.

Taking into account the proposals made by the participants in the XXIV Session of the Secretariat of the Congress, the following decisions were adopted:

  1. To adopt the joint documents “The Role of Religions in Combating Climate Change” and “Code of Ethics for the Use of Artificial Intelligence in Religious Contexts”.
  2. To approve the Charter of Rights of the Child with an Incurable Disease.
  3. To hold the next XXV Session of the Secretariat of the Congress of the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions (6 October 2027) in Astana.
  4. For the purpose of ensuring proper preparations for the XXV Session of the Secretariat of the Congress, to hold the next meeting of the Working Group of the Secretariat on 5 October 2027.
  5. To adopt the Minutes of the XXIV Session of the Secretariat of the Congress of the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions.
  6. To inform the leaders of world and traditional religions and other prominent religious figures of the decisions adopted.

Done at Astana on 7 October 2026 in a single original copy in the Kazakh, Russian, English, Arabic, Farsi and Chinese languages, with all language versions of the document having equal force.

The Minutes shall be kept at the headquarters of the Secretariat of the Congress of the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions – the International Center for Interfaith and Interreligious Dialogue, which shall forward a duplicate thereof to each Party.

Republic of Kazakhstan, Astana,

7 October 2026

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