Viewing cable 03VATICAN4956, VATICAN SEES KAZAKH-SPONSORED WORLD RELIGIOUS

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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 VATICAN 004956 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/WE: LEVIN; DRL/IRF: YOUNG, HEWETT; EUR/CACEN 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958 N/A 
TAGS: PREL KIRF KZ VT
SUBJECT: VATICAN SEES KAZAKH-SPONSORED WORLD RELIGIOUS 
CONGRESS AS IMPORTANT STEP FORWARD FOR INTER-RELIGIOUS 
DIALOGUE 
 
REFTEL: VATICAN 4289 

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SUMMARY 
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¶1. (SBU) HOLY SEE DIPLOMATS WHO ATTENDED THE SEPTEMBER 24- 
25 CONGRESS OF WORLD AND TRADITIONAL NATIONAL RELIGIONS IN 
ASTANA, KAZAKHSTAN REGARD THE FORUM AS AN IMPORTANT STEP 
FORWARD FOR INTER-RELIGIOUS DIALOGUE. THE HOLY SEE, WHICH 
HAS BEEN ACTIVELY PROMOTING SUCH A DIALOGUE FOR DECADES, 
WELCOMED THE INITIATIVE AS A SIGNAL THAT THEIR EFFORTS ARE 
BEARING FRUIT WITHIN THE ISLAMIC WORLD. RECOGNIZING THIS, 
THE HOLY SEE SENT A HIGH-POWERED DELEGATION WITH TWO 
CARDINALS, AN ARCHBISHOP AND TWO OTHER HIGH-LEVEL CURIA 
OFFICIALS. THE VATICAN'S GROWING DETERMINATION TO ADVANCE 
INTER-RELIGIOUS DIALOGUE MAKES IT AN IMPORTANT U.S. PARTNER 
IN OUR EFFORT TO OVERCOME PERCEPTIONS OF RELIGIOUS MYOPIA 
IN THE U.S. AND RELIGIOUS DIVISION BETWEEN THE WEST AND THE 
ISLAMIC WORLD. END SUMMARY. 
 
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SPIRIT OF ASSISI REACHES ALMATY 
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¶2. (SBU) THE CONGRESS OF WORLD AND TRADITIONAL NATIONAL 
RELIGIONS IN ASTANA, KAZAKHSTAN SEPT. 23-24 WAS AN 
IMPORTANT STEP IN INTER-RELIGIOUS DIALOGUE AND "LAID THE 
GROUNDWORK" FOR FUTURE ADVANCES, ACCORDING TO VATICAN 
DELEGATE JOZEF MAJ OF THE HOLY SEE'S PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR 
THE PROMOTION OF CHRISTIAN UNITY. THE GATHERING -- ONE OF 
THE MOST SIGNIFICANT IN A PREDOMINANTLY MUSLIM COUNTRY IN 
 RECENT TIMES -- BROUGHT TOGETHER REPRESENTATIVES FROM 17 
FAITHS AND DENOMINATIONS, INCLUDING ISLAM, JUDAISM, 
CHRISTIANITY, SHINTO, HINDUISM, AND BUDDHISM, FOR 
INTERFAITH DIALOGUE AND DISCUSSIONS ON CONFLICT RESOLUTION. 
HIGH-LEVEL ATTENDEES INCLUDED THE SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE 
MUSLIM WORLD LEAGUE AND THE CHIEF RABBI OF ISRAEL. 
ARCHBISHOP TOMASZ PETA OF ASTANA DESCRIBED THE MEETING, 
WHICH WAS PROMOTED AND ORGANIZED BY PRESIDENT NURSULTAN 
NARZABAYEV, AS "A FRUIT OF THE POPE'S VISIT" TO KAZAKHSTAN 
IN 2001, DURING WHICH THE POPE EMPHASIZED THE IMPORTANCE OF 
DIALOGUE BETWEEN RELIGIONS AS A SIGNIFICANT INSTRUMENT FOR 
BUILDING PEACE. IT ALSO REFLECTED THE SPIRIT OF INTER- 
RELIGIOUS DIALOGUE, WHICH THE POPE FIRST LAUNCHED IN A 1986 
MEETING IN ASSISI AND CONTINUED WITH A 2002 ASSISI MEETING 
AFTER THE SEPTEMBER 11 ATTACKS. 
 
¶3. (SBU) THE CONFERENCE PRODUCED A JOINT DECLARATION 
CALLING FOR DIALOGUE, TOLERANCE, AND EDUCATION IN THE 
PROMOTION OF PEACE WHILE CONDEMNING EXTREMISM, TERRORISM, 
AND OTHER FORMS OF VIOLENCE IN THE NAME OF RELIGION. THE 
DECLARATION, DISCUSSIONS, AND COMMON PRAYER DURING THE 
EVENT, MAJ BELIEVED, REPRESENTED AN IMPORTANT "START" 
WITHIN MULTI-CONFESSIONAL COUNTRIES OF CENTRAL ASIA TO 
FOSTER RECONCILIATION AND UNDERSTANDING. DELEGATES AGREED 
IN THE DECLARATION TO CONVENE AT LEAST EVERY THREE YEARS IN 
A SIMILAR FORUM, AND DESIGNATED KAZAKHSTAN TO ORGANIZE THE 
NEXT MEETING IN THREE YEARS TIME. 
 
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NEEDED EXAMPLE IN A TOUGH NEIGHBORHOOD 
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¶4. (SBU) JULIO MURAT, THE HOLY SEE'S OFFICE DIRECTOR FOR 
KAZAKHSTAN, WHO WAS ALSO PART OF THE VATICAN'S DELEGATION 
TO THE CONFERENCE, TOLD US HE ATTACHED GREAT SIGNIFICANCE 
TO THE FACT THAT THE CONFERENCE WAS HELD IN A PREDOMINANTLY 
MUSLIM, POST-COMMUNIST COUNTRY IN CENTRAL ASIA. "THE 
NEIGHBORHOOD NEEDS THIS KIND OF EXAMPLE," MURAT SAID. HE 
SAW A DESIRE ON THE PART OF THE NAZARBAYEV GOVERNMENT TO 
AVOID "FANATICISM AND AN ISLAMICIZED SOCIETY" AND HE HOPED 
ITS EXAMPLE COULD INFLUENCE OTHER COUNTRIES SUCH AS SAUDI 
ARABIA AND IRAN AND, IN TIME, CONTRIBUTE TO BUILDING A LESS 
FERTILE ENVIRONMENT FOR TERRORISM. KAZAKH PRESIDENT 
NAZARBAYEV NOTED THE LINK BETWEEN INTER-RELIGIOUS DIALOGUE 
AND INTERNATIONAL SECURITY IN HIS REMARKS TO THE 
CONFERENCE, AND ALMATY RABBI ELKHANAN KOGEN WAS QUOTED IN 
THE PRESS DURING THE EVENT ACCENTING ITS ANTI-TERRORISM 
THEME. 
 
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VATICAN DELEGATION REFLECTS POPE'S COMMITMENT 
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¶5. (SBU) THE HOLY SEE'S HIGH-POWERED PRESENCE AT THE 
KAZAKHSTAN CONGRESS REFLECTED THE PRIORITY THE HOLY SEE 
CURRENTLY PLACES ON EXPANDING SUCH A DIALOGUE AND THEIR 
 
VATICAN 00004956 002 OF 002 
 
SITED BY THE POPE. 
THE HOLY SEE DELEGATION WAS LED BY CARDINAL JOZEF TOMKO, 
PREFECT EMERITUS OF THE CONGREGATION FOR THE EVANGELIZATION 
OF PEOPLES. THE DELEGATION ALSO INCLUDED CARDINAL RENATO 
MARTINO, PRESIDENT OF THE PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR JUSTICE 
AND PEACE, ASTANA ARCHBISHOP TOMASZ PETA, ARCHBISHOP PIER 
LUIGI CELATA, THE NUMBER TWO IN THE VATICAN'S COUNCIL FOR 
INTER-RELIGIOUS DIALOGUE, MONSIGNOR MAJ FROM THE COUNCIL 
FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY, AND A MONSIGNOR MARAT FROM THE FOREIGN 
MINISTRY. IN HIS REMARKS, TOMKO EMPHASIZED THE SPECIFIC 
RESPONSIBILITY OF RELIGIOUS LEADERS TO COLLABORATE TO 
ELIMINATE CAUSES OF TERRORISM, PROMOTE HUMAN DIGNITY AND 
UNITY AMONG PEOPLES. HE ALSO HIGHLIGHTED THE IMPORTANCE OF 
EDUCATION IN ENSURING THAT CULTURAL AND RELIGIOUS 
IDENTITIES ARE NOT PROMOTED IN OPPOSITION TO OTHERS. 
 
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COMMENT 
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¶6. (SBU) THOUGH THE MEETING WAS KAZAKH-SPONSORED, THE HOLY 
SEE CAN JUSTIFIABLY CLAIM A ROLE IN ITS GENESIS, GIVEN THE 
POPE'S PIONEERING ROLE IN DEVELOPING THIS TYPE OF 
CONFERENCE. AS ALMATY ARCHBISHOP PETA OBSERVED, "WE ARE 
HAPPY THAT OUR CIVIL AUTHORITIES RECOGNIZE THE POPE AS A 
MAJOR MORAL AUTHORITY AT THE WORLD LEVEL AND THAT THEY HAVE 
UNDERTAKEN THIS INITIATIVE IN KEEPING WITH THE SPIRIT OF 
ASSISI WHERE THE FIRST INTER-RELIGIOUS MEETING FOR PEACE 
WAS HELD." THE VATICAN-ASSOCIATED NGO SANT'EGIDIO ALSO 
ORGANIZES AN ANNUAL SERIES OF INTER-RELIGIOUS MEETINGS WITH 
A SIMILAR FORMAT (REFTEL) THAT HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO A 
 NORMALIZATION OF SUCH DIALOGUES. CATHOLIC DOCUMENTS ON 
INTER-RELIGIOUS DIALOGUE ARE SOME OF THE MOST DEVELOPED, 
AND WERE FREQUENTLY CITED DURING THE CONFERENCE. VATICAN 
OFFICIAL HAVE TOLD US THAT EXPANDING THIS DIALOGUE IS 
CURRENTLY ONE OF THE VATICAN'S HIGHEST INTERNATIONAL 
PRIORITIES. WE CAN THEREFORE EXPECT THE HOLY SEE TO REMAIN 
A KEY PARTNER IN OUR EFFORT TO BUILD INTER-RELIGIOUS 
UNDERSTANDING AND DEVELOP AN ACTIVE DIALOGUE WITH THE 
MUSLIM WORLD. AS MURAT CONCLUDED, "THERE SEEMS TO BE 
MOMENTUM ON THE ISSUE." END COMMENT. 
 
NICHOLSON 
 
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 2003VATICA04956 - Classification: UNCLASSIFIED