Leaders unite in Kazakhstan to combat religious extremism

-19/09/06

Representatives of


Leaders unite in Kazakhstan to combat religious extremism

-19/09/06

Representatives of Christian and other faiths have denounced extremist acts carried out on the basis of religion and they have appealed against “religious prejudices and stereotypes” at an international congress in Kazakhstan ñ writes Jonathan Luxmoore for Ecumenical News International.

“We condemn all forms of terrorism on the basis that justice can never be established through fear and bloodshed and that the use of such means in the name of religion is a violation and betrayal of any religion that appeals to human goodness and dialogue,” the religious leaders said at the end of their meeting on 14 September 2006.

The faith representatives urged governments to promote international law and justice and to work for a fairer world.

“We also call on them to reject totally the development, production and possession of weapons of mass destruction, to promote the strengthening of non-proliferation regimes, and to respect and protect the sanctity of religious symbols and places,” said the delegates.

The declaration was drawn up at the second congress of World and Traditional Religious Leaders, attended in the Kazakh capital, Astana, from 1-14 September. The congress was hosted by Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev and brought together 43 delegations from 20 countries.

Present were the Christian Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch, Bartholomeos I; as well as the general secretary of the Lutheran World Federation, the Rev Ishmael Noko; two cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church; the head of the World Islamic League, Abdullah Abdulmuhsin at-Turki; the rector of Cairo’s Al-Azhar university, Muhammad Said Tantawi; and Israel’s Sephardic Chief Rabbi, Shlomo Amar.

“It is by now trite to observe that inter-religious tension is a major threat to peace and justice in today’s ‘Global Village’,” the LWF’s Noko said in a speech to the gathering. “It is a matter of obvious and urgent priority for all religious leaders and communities to reduce these tensions and to control intolerant tendencies.”

The final declaration noted that inter-religious tensions had been caused by “a fundamental imbalance in international politics, economics, social, humanitarian and information resources, and the manipulation of religion for political ends”.

Prominent participants included former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev and Mohammad Khatami, the former Iranian president, as well as UNESCO director- Koichiro Matsuura and the secretary-general of the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly, Rene van der Linden.

Muslims officially make up 42.7 per cent of Kazakhstan’s 14.3 million population, with Christians accounting for around 16 per cent.

In an 8 September report, the Oslo-based Forum 18 news agency said two separate laws in 2005 had “severely restricted” freedom of worship in Kazakhstan by tightening restrictions on “unauthorised activity” by unregistered religious groups and enabling government officials to ban churches which “infringe the law of the republic”.

The full text of the declaration can be obtained from: www.religionscongress.org.

With acknowledgements to ENI. Ecumenical News International is jointly sponsored by the World Council of Churches, the Lutheran World Federation, the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, and the Conference of European Churches.


Leaders unite in Kazakhstan to combat religious extremism

-19/09/06

Representatives of Christian and other faiths have denounced extremist acts carried out on the basis of religion and they have appealed against “religious prejudices and stereotypes” at an international congress in Kazakhstan ñ writes Jonathan Luxmoore for Ecumenical News International.

“We condemn all forms of terrorism on the basis that justice can never be established through fear and bloodshed and that the use of such means in the name of religion is a violation and betrayal of any religion that appeals to human goodness and dialogue,” the religious leaders said at the end of their meeting on 14 September 2006.

The faith representatives urged governments to promote international law and justice and to work for a fairer world.

“We also call on them to reject totally the development, production and possession of weapons of mass destruction, to promote the strengthening of non-proliferation regimes, and to respect and protect the sanctity of religious symbols and places,” said the delegates.

The declaration was drawn up at the second congress of World and Traditional Religious Leaders, attended in the Kazakh capital, Astana, from 1-14 September. The congress was hosted by Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev and brought together 43 delegations from 20 countries.

Present were the Christian Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch, Bartholomeos I; as well as the general secretary of the Lutheran World Federation, the Rev Ishmael Noko; two cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church; the head of the World Islamic League, Abdullah Abdulmuhsin at-Turki; the rector of Cairo’s Al-Azhar university, Muhammad Said Tantawi; and Israel’s Sephardic Chief Rabbi, Shlomo Amar.

“It is by now trite to observe that inter-religious tension is a major threat to peace and justice in today’s ‘Global Village’,” the LWF’s Noko said in a speech to the gathering. “It is a matter of obvious and urgent priority for all religious leaders and communities to reduce these tensions and to control intolerant tendencies.”

The final declaration noted that inter-religious tensions had been caused by “a fundamental imbalance in international politics, economics, social, humanitarian and information resources, and the manipulation of religion for political ends”.

Prominent participants included former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev and Mohammad Khatami, the former Iranian president, as well as UNESCO director- Koichiro Matsuura and the secretary-general of the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly, Rene van der Linden.

Muslims officially make up 42.7 per cent of Kazakhstan’s 14.3 million population, with Christians accounting for around 16 per cent.

In an 8 September report, the Oslo-based Forum 18 news agency said two separate laws in 2005 had “severely restricted” freedom of worship in Kazakhstan by tightening restrictions on “unauthorised activity” by unregistered religious groups and enabling government officials to ban churches which “infringe the law of the republic”.

The full text of the declaration can be obtained from: www.religionscongress.org.

With acknowledgements to ENI. Ecumenical News International is jointly sponsored by the World Council of Churches, the Lutheran World Federation, the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, and the Conference of European Churches.