ALMATY – Pope Leo XIV will send a special message to participants, continuing a tradition of papal support for Kazakhstan’s flagship interfaith initiative at the eighth Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions on Sept. 17-18.
Photo credit: Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue
Cardinal George Jacob Koovakad, newly appointed prefect of the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue, will give the keynote address at the plenary session and read the closing declaration, summing up the commitments of the international gathering.
The Vatican delegation includes Father Vincenzo Marinelli, deputy apostolic nuncio to Kazakhstan, and Professor Tiziano Onesti, president of the Vatican’s pediatric hospital Bambino Gesù, who will lead discussions on expanding medical cooperation with Kazakh institutions, reported the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue press service on Sept. 13.
The final declaration, to be read by Cardinal Koovakad, is expected to outline shared principles of peace, cooperation, and mutual respect, reinforcing the congress’s standing as one of the world’s leading interfaith gatherings.
