St. Nicholas of Myra Byzantine Catholic Church, White Plains, NY

It was encouraging to see Pope Francis demonstrated courage to attend the 2022 Kazakh Interfaith Summit despite objections from the dying minority that cling to the archaic and obsolete “one true religion” view that is antithetical to God's love, limits the power of the resurrection, monopolizes Jesus Christ’s saving grace and has caused so much human grief and suffering through the ages. During this conference, participants referenced the historic “Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together” signed by Pope Francis and Sheikh Ahmed Al Tayyeb, the Grand Imam of al-Azhar in Abu Dhabi, UAE (February 2019).

During his closing speech, Pope Francis reinforced Point 10 of the summit’s declaration – “We note that pluralism and differences in religion, skin color, gender, race, and language are expressions of the wisdom of God’s will in creation. …any incident of coercion to a particular religion and religious doctrine is unacceptable”[1] – declaring “extremism, radicalism, terrorism and all other forms of violence and wars, whatever their goals, have nothing to do with true religion and must be rejected in the strongest possible term.” He also called on “world leaders to ‘abandon all aggressive and destructive rhetoric which leads to destabilization… and to cease from conflict and bloodshed…”[2]
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[1] Hannah Brockhaus. Kazakhstan interreligious congress adopts declaration calling religious pluralism ‘God’s will.’ CAN (Catholic News Agency). 21 September 2022. www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/252298/kazakhstan-interreligious-congress-adopts-declaration-calling-religious-pluralism-gods-will

[2] Nicole Winfield. Pope criticized over interfaith event. The Journal News. 10 September 2022. 3A.