Patriarch Kirill plans to visit Kazakhstan in 2021 - rep
NUR-SULTAN. Sept 19 (Interfax) - Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia plans to visit Kazakhstan in 2021, as the country's capital Nur-Sultan is due to host the 7th Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions in June 2021, Dimitry Safonov, secretary for interreligious relations of the Moscow Patriarchate's Department for External Church Relations, said.
"The Interreligious Council of Russia treats Kazakhstan with great respect, supports all initiatives of this dialogue platform and hopes to cooperate with it in the future," Safonov said at a meeting with Kazakh Senate Speaker Dariga Nazarbayeva, who also heads the secretariat of the congress, in Nur-Sultan.
"We would like to be provided with access to the materials and speeches of participants in previous such congresses to study Kazakhstan's record of hosting this interreligious forum," the Kazakh Senate's press service quoted Safonov as saying on Thursday.
The Kazakh capital is due to host the 7th Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions on June 15-16, 2021. The process of forming the event's agenda will continue until March 1, 2020.
Pope Francis may attend the congress in Nur-Sultan as well.
These congresses have been held in the Kazakh capital since 2003 on the initiative of the country's First President Nursultan Nazarbayev.