Russia’s war in Ukraine and the Vatican's strained relations with China are the backdrop to Pope Francis’ visit this week to the former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan.
Both of which focuses attention on the interfaith conference, an important triennial event for Kazakhstan, a country that borders Russia to the north, China to the east and is home to some 130 ethnic groups. It’s a showpiece of its foreign policy and a reflection of its own multicultural and multiethnic population that has long been touted as a crossroads between East and West.
Darhan Qydyrali, minister of information and social development, said the presence of world religious leaders in the country was fully in Kazakhstan’s national interests. “We invited them and hoped that Patriarch Kirill will also participate,” he told The Associated Press on the eve of the congress. “All in all, I think the congress will give an example that other issues can be also solved through the dialogue of religions.”When St.
Sophia Gatovskaya, a parishioner at Our Lady Of Perpetual Help Cathedral in the capital, said she attended that first papal visit and that it has borne fruit to this day.“It was actually amazing. And after this visit, we have peace and tolerance in our republic. We have a lot of nationalities in Kazakhstan, and we all live together. And we expect the same from this visit that we will have peace in our republic. And we very much expect that the war in Ukraine will end.
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