Kazakh Senate Speaker met with Metropolitan Hilarion
In the course of the meeting, the Senate Speaker noted that the Orthodoxy as the second largest confession in Kazakhstan played a relevant role in strengthening the inter-faith dialogue in the country. "The Russian Orthodox Church has supported President Nazarbayev's initiative to convoke the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions from the very beginning. It has made a tremendous contribution to the implementation of this grand religious conception over the last decade. A visit by Patriarch Kirill I of Moscow and all Russia to Kazakhstan in May 2012 and his participation in the IV Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions were of paramount importance," Mr. Mami stressed.
The sides also discussed the prospects for the development of this religious forum in the context of its 10th anniversary.
Hilarion, the Metropolitan of Volokolamsk, said the co-existence of religious confessions was high on the international agenda. In his words, the Russian Orthodox Church highly values Nursultan Nazarbayev's position on peaceful co-existence and mutual understanding being the priorities of his well-balanced policy. "Kazakhstan is a bright example in this respect; it should be an epitome for other countries," he added.