The XVIII Session of the Secretariat of the Congress of the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions presided over by Nazarbayeva Dariga Nursultanovna, Head of the Secretariat of the Congress of the Leaders of the World and Traditional Religions, Chairman of the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan, was held on September 18, 2019.
The Session was attended by:
REPRESENTATIVES OF ISLAM
Nazir Mohammed Mohammed Elnazir Ayad - Secretary- General of Al-Azhar Islamic Research Academy, Arab Republic of Egypt;
Abdulaziz Ahmad Sarhan - Representative of the Muslim World League, Secretary-General of the International Organization for Relief, Welfare and Development, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia;
Muhammad Abduluhed Al-Arifi - Director General of the Department of Religious Attaches and Seasonal Programs of the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Conscription and Mentoring, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia;
Muhammad Mahdi Tashiri - Chairman of the International Center for Interfaith Dialogue of the Organization for Cultural and Islamic Relations of the Islamic Republic of Iran;
Muhammad Zia-Ul-Haq - Director General of the Institute for the Islamic Research of the International Islamic University in Islamabad;
Muhammad Shahhat Al-Jindi - Representative of the Minister for Waqf Affairs of the Arab Republic of Egypt, Rector of the Nur-Mubarak Kazakh-Egyptian University of Islamic Culture.
REPRESENTATIVES OF CHRISTIANITY
Dimitry Safonov - Secretary of the External Church Relations Department of the Moscow Patriarchate for Interreligious Relations of the Russian Orthodox Church, priest;
Marcos Hovhannisyan - Bishop, Head of the Armenian Diocese of Ukraine, the Armenian Church;
Khaled Akasheh - Bureau Chief for Islam, Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, Vatican;
Richard Atkinson - Representative of the Church of England, Bishop of Bedford;
Yuri Novgorodov - Representative of the Lutheran World Federation, Archbishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kazakhstan.
REPRESENTATIVES OF JUDAISM
Yitzhak Lorincz - Representative of Chief Sephardi Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi of South American community in Jerusalem;
Moshe Haim Lau - Representative of the Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi of Israel, Chief Rabbi of Netanya Center.
REPRESENTATIVES OF BUDDHISM
Thanes Sucharikul - Advisor to the President of the World Fellowship of Buddhists, Thailand;
Shi Chunwen - Deputy Secretary General of the Buddhist Association of China;
Byambajav Khunkhur - Da Lama of the Gandan Tegchenling Monastery of the Buddhist Center of Mongolia, Director of the Zanabazar Buddhist Institute;
Yang Ki-Hoon – Director of Permanent representative Office of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism in Central Asia.
REPRESENTATIVE OF TAOISM
Yin Mingfang - Deputy Head of the Department of Taoist Research Institute of China
REPRESENTATIVE OF HINDUISM
Kala Dhananjay Acharya – Director of the Indian Culture Centre “K.J.Somaiya Bharatiya Sanskriti Peetham”.
REPRESENTATIVE OF INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION
Majed Abdulaziz Al-Turki - Chairman of the Center of Information and Arabian-Russian Studies of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
REPRESENTATIVES OF RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS OF KAZAKHSTAN
Serikbay Kazhy Oraz - Chairman of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Kazakhstan, Supreme Mufti;
Gennady - Bishop of Kaskelen, Vicar of the Diocese of Astana, Rector of the Almaty Orthodox Theological Seminary, Head of the Affairs of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District;
Tomasz Bernard Peta - Archbishop of the Archdiocese of the St. Maria in Nur-Sultan, Chairman of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Kazakhstan, Metropolitan;
Yeshaya Elazar Kogen - Chief Rabbi of Kazakhstan.
REPRESENTATIVES OF THE REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN
Dauren Abayev - Minister of Information and Public Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan;
Yerzhan Ashikbayev - Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Deputy Head of the Secretariat of the Congress of the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions;
Marat Azilkhanov - Vice-Minister of Information and Social Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Commissioner for the Promotion of the Goals and Tasks of the Congress of the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions;
Altay Abibullayev - Chairman of the Board of the N. Nazarbayev Center for Development of Interfaith and Inter-civilization Dialogue.
At the XVIII Session of the Secretariat of the Congress the following agenda was approved:
- Exchange of views on the outcome of the VI Congress of the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions and determining the prospects of the activities of the Secretariat.
- Submitting proposals of the VII Congress of the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions in 2021 (the main theme of the Congress, the themes of panel sessions, the date of the meeting).
- Determining the date and venue of the XIX Session of the Congress Secretariat.
- Adoption of the Minutes of the XVIII Session of the Secretariat of the Congress of the Leaders of the World and Traditional Religions.
At the XVIII Session of the Secretariat of the Congress participants had fruitful exchange of views and opinions on issues of the Agenda. All participants of the Session of the Secretariat took part in discussions on the above-mentioned issues.
The participants of the Session expressed their deep appreciation and gratitude to the Kazakhstan’s side for the contribution and efforts to implement the common values and principles of the VI Congress of the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions and the main provisions of Declaration, as well as the creation of the N. Nazarbayev Center for Development of Interfaith and Inter-civilization Dialogue.
The following decisions were taken at the XVIII Session of the Secretariat of the Congress:
- To take into account the proposals of the participants of the meeting of the VI Congress of the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions, as well as on further prospects of the activities of the Secretariat. To the N.Nazarbayev Center for Development of Interfaith and Inter-civilization Dialogue to systematize and generalize these proposals and to prepare relevant recommendations.
- To strengthen cooperation the Secretariat of the Congress with the authoritative international organizations / centers specializing in the dialogue of religions, cultures and civilizations, on the platform for collective promotion of the goals and tasks of the Congress of the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions.
- To render all possible assistance to the N. Nazarbayev Center for Development of Interfaith and Inter-civilization Dialogue in establishing and developing cooperation with the leading international public and authoritative religious organizations of the world.
- To send to the Secretariat members by March 1, 2020 their proposals on the key theme of the Plenary meeting and the four sectional sessions themes of the VII Congress of the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions by March 1, 2020.
- To entrust to the Working Group of the Secretariat of the Congress and the N. Nazarbayev Center for Development of Interfaith and Inter-civilization Dialogue to summarize the proposals on the key topics of the Plenary and sectional sessions of the VII Congress and to submit them to the Secretariat three months before the XIX session.
- To hold the next session of the Working Group of the Secretariat of the Congress on June 2, 2020 in Nur-Sultan city in order to effectively and efficiently prepare the Secretariat session.
- To hold the XIX Secretariat of the Congress of the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions on June 3, 2020 in Nur-Sultan city.
- To determine the preliminary date of the VII Congress of the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions on June 15-16, 2021.
- To inform members of the Council of Religious Leaders and other prominent religious leaders about the decisions taken.
