VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) – The Holy See has confirmed that Pope Francis will attend the seventh World Religions Congress in Kazakhstan this September.
The pontiff is throwing his support behind the international “interfaith” meeting aimed at the “development of humanity” following the worldwide COVID-19 response.
According to a joint communiqué released by the Holy See Press Office on May 31 and signed by both Archbishop Paul Gallagher on behalf of the Holy See and Kazakhstani Deputy Prime Minister Mukhtar Tileuberdi, Pope Francis will travel to Kazakhstan’s capital Nur-Sultan for the seventh Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions from September 14–15.
Before now, the pontiff had only signalled his desire to join the interreligious meeting without confirming his attendance, stating in a video address on April 11 his support for Kazakhstan’s “diverse and united” country as “a basis for stability” despite the nation being overwhelmingly Muslim.
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Catholics represent just 1 percent of Kazakhstan’s population of 20 million.
Gallagher and Tileuberdi wrote that “a culture of dialogue must be one of the basic values of the contemporary world. The continuation of peaceful coexistence in the face of contemporary challenges is achievable only through an inclusive and comprehensive dialogue.”
“Therefore,” the joint statement continued, “Kazakhstan welcomes the decision of Pope Francis to attend the VII Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions, to be held in Nur-Sultan in September 2022, as agreed during the high-level talks between the President of Kazakhstan H.E. Mr. Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and the Pope on April 11, 2022.”
World religious leaders meet every three years in the Asiatic region to discuss different international matters, usually revolving around humanist and Masonic ideals such as syncretism and opposing religions being the origin of human confrontations. The expressed mission of the congress is the “[s]earch for universal reference points in world and traditional forms of religions” while facilitating the “functioning of the permanent international Institute for the implementation of inter-religious dialogue and concerted action.”
“Promoting global dialogue between civilizations, cultures and religions,” “deepening and strengthening mutual understanding and respect between religious communities,” and the “development of a culture of tolerance and mutual respect as a counterbalance to the ideology of hatred and extremism” all form part of the congress’ objectives.
The theme of the 2022 meeting is to be “The Role of Leaders of World and Traditional Faiths in the Socio-Spiritual Development of Humanity after the Pandemic.”
Part of the discussions will be around “gender equality” and the “contribution of women to the well-being and sustainable development of society and the role of religious communities in support of her social status.”
A roundtable was held March 30 to prepare this section of the congress under the sign of “progressive strategy.” During the meeting, one participant spoke of the “harmony of Islamic civilization and the Kazakh worldview.”
The congress website noted that promoting “gender equality in the world” might expand “the role of women in religion and building interreligious and intercultural dialogue.”
Pope Francis has already faced sharp criticism for his open support of religious syncretism, particularly in relation to Islam and his 2019 signing of the “Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together” with Ahmad el-Tayeb, Grand Imam of Egypt’s al-Azhar Mosque, in which the men agreed that a “pluralism and diversity” of religions is “willed by God.”
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The document on human fraternity invites “all persons who have faith in God and faith in human fraternity to unite and work together so that it may serve as a guide for future generations to advance a culture of mutual respect in the awareness of the great divine grace that makes all human beings brothers and sisters.”
Further outrage was sparked upon the release of Francis’ 2020 encyclical Fratelli Tutti, in which the Popes call for a “new world” reminiscent more of that willed by freemasonry than of the Gospel. Francis references his collaboration with El-Tayeb, addressing the encyclical not to the faithful, but more broadly “all people of good will.”
The scope of Fratelli Tutti is almost entirely worldly, which is to say, it concentrates on this earthly life, directing its readers’ gaze towards eternity only in the final chapter. There, although also affirming the Christian faith in the Gospel, the pontiff speaks in solidarity with people of other religions about “the Father of all” as the basis for human dignity.