MINUTES
OF THE XV SESSION OF THE SECRETARIAT
OF THE LEADERS OF WORLD AND TRADITIONAL RELIGIONS
The XV Session of the Secretariat of the Congress of the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions took place on June 1, 2016 in Astana and was chaired by Kassym-Jomart TOKAYEV, Head of the Secretariat of the Congress of the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions, Chairman of the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan
The participants included:
Representatives of Islam:
Dr. Mohyeldin Afefe Ahmed Abdelmaged – Secretary General at Islamic Research Academy of Al-Azhar;
Dr. Monqith Mahmood al-Sakkar – Advisor of the Department of International Organizations and Conferences of the Muslim World League;
Dr. Abdullah Fahad al-Lheedan – Adviser to the Minister of Islamic Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia;
Mr. Gahraman Soleimani – Deputy Head of the Organization for Culture and Islamic Relations of the Islamic Republic of Iran;
Dr. Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq – Director General of the Islamic Research Institute of the International Islamic University in Islamabad.
Representatives of Christianity:
His Reverence Monsignor Khaled Akasheh – Bureau Chief for Islam, Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue of the Holy See;
The Very Reverend Archimandrite Grigorios Ioannidis – Vicar General of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of France;
His Eminence Bishop Marcos Hovhannisyan – Head of the Diocese of Ukraine of the Armenian Apostolic Church;
His Eminence Richard Atkinson – Bishop of Bedford, representative of the Anglican Church;
His Eminence Yuri Novgorodov – Head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kazakhstan, representative of the Lutheran World Federation;
His Reverence Dimitriy Safonov – Secretary of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate on Inter-religious relations, Executive Secretary of the Interreligious Council of Russia.
Representative of Judaism:
Rabbi Shaсhar Raсhmani – Representative of the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel.
Representatives of Buddhism:
Mr. Phallop Thaiarry – Secretary General of the World Fellowship of Buddhists;
Mr. Jue Xing – Vice-Chairman ofChina‘s Buddhist Association, Vice President of the Institute of Chinese Buddhists;
Hamba Lama Khunkhur Byambajav – Head of the Mongolian Gandan Tegchenlin Monastery;
Mr. Yang Ki Hoon – Permanent representative of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism in Central Asia.
Representative of Taoism:
Mr. Ji Hongzhong – Deputy Chairman of the Taoist Association of China.
Representative of Hinduism:
Dr. Kala Dhananjay Acharya – Director of the «K.J. Somaiya Bharatiya Sanskriti Peetham».
Representative of international organizations:
Mr. Matthew Hodes – Director of the UN Alliance of Civilizations.
Representatives of religious organizations of Kazakhstan:
His Excellency Yerzhan Mayamerov – Supreme Mufti, Chairman of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Kazakhstan;
His Eminence Alexander – Head of the Russian Orthodox Church of Metropolitan district in the Republic of Kazakhstan, Metropolitan of Astana and Kazakhstan;
His Eminence Tomasz Peta – Archbishop, Metropolitan of the Archdiocese of Holy Mary in Astana, President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Kazakhstan;
Mr. Boris Manoilenko – representative of the Chief Rabbi of Kazakhstan.
Representative of the Republic of Kazakhstan:
Mr. Marat Azilkhanov – Vice Minister of Culture and Sports of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Special Representative for the Congress.
At the XV Session of the Secretariat of the Congress the following agenda was approved:
– Astana International Award for Interfaith Dialogue;
– Medal of Honor of the Congress of the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions;
– Museum of Peace and Accord.
5. Adoption of the Minutes of the XV Session of the Secretariat of the Congress of the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions.
The following decisions were taken based on the suggestions of the participants of the XV Session of the Secretariat of the Congress:
I. Tо take note of proposals made by the participants of the Session on the outcome of the V Congress of the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions:
II. To approve the concepts on:
– Astana International Award for Interfaith Dialogue;
– Medal of Honor of the Congress of the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions;
– Museum of Peace and Accord.
III. The main theme of the VI Congress of the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions is as follows: “Religious Leaders for a Safe World”. The panel sessions are as follows:
IV. To hold the XVI Session of the Secretariat of the Congress of the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions on August 9, 2017 in Astana (Kazakhstan).
V. To inform the religious leaders about the decisions taken.