Pope Francis

He asked at an outdoor Mass in Kazakhstan “how many deaths will it take?” for peace to prevail in Ukraine.

The Russian patriarch has blasted the West’s secular mentality and claimed the seeds of the Ukraine conflict were sown by foreign threats to Russia’s borders. The sacred must never be a prop for power, nor power a prop for the sacred.” “May we never justify violence.

NUR-SULTAN – Nearly 10,000 people have attended a holy mass conducted by Pope Francis for Roman Catholics as well as representatives of other religions and ...

The main document of the congress includes a list of critical issues confronting the world today, potential solutions, and the aspirations and appeals of world religious leaders addressed to the international community. The previous holy mass was celebrated by Pope John Paul II during his visit to Kazakhstan on Sept. A universal effort is needed so that Kazakhstan can develop even more in brotherhood, dialogue and understanding to build bridges of solidarity cooperation with other peoples, nations and cultures,” said Pope Francis.

It is the task of religions to remind society of the sacredness of all human life, Pope Francis told leaders of the world's religions in Kazakhstan on ...

Many of our brothers and sisters die sacrificed on the altar of profit, amid clouds of the sacrilegious incense of indifference. “Homo sacra res homini,” he said, quoting Roman philosopher Seneca. The pope spoke Sept.

Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk, who is in charge of foreign relations for the Russian Orthodox Church, told a pool of Vatican journalists on Sept.

14 that a second meeting between the patriarch and the Pope would require significant preparation. “The Pope conveyed his greetings to Patriarch Kirill. not just a meeting while you have a coffee,” he said.

POPE Francis told the Russian Orthodox hierarchy and other faith leaders yesterday that religion must never be used to justify the “evil” of war .

“How many deaths will it still take before conflict yields to dialogue for the good of people, nations and all humanity. However, he insisted that faith leaders must promote a culture of peace, since it would be hypocritical to expect that non-believers would promote peace if religious leaders do not. The sacred must never be a prop for power, nor power a prop for the sacred,” he said.

The head of the Catholic church is on a visit to the predominantly-Muslim country until Thursday. 7000 Catholics turned out at the Expo-Square to see the ...

The two leaders' relations have been strained by the Russian Orthodox's open support for the invasion of Ukraine. The visit of the Pope concludes on Thursday. "This is a remarkable event for every Catholic.

The painful memories of the persecution of Christians in Kazakhstan serve as a reminder that peace “must be achieved anew each day,” Pope Francis said.

“Being a Christian, then, means living without venom: not biting one another, not complaining, blaming and backbiting, not disseminating evil, not polluting the earth with the sin and distrust that comes from the evil one.” “Everybody knows what is the line of the pope, of the Catholic Church. We are praying for their souls,” he said. The invasion of Ukraine, he said, has divided many Catholics in Russia. We continue to pray that peaceful dialogue and harmony will prevail in these territories over disputes as well,” the pope said. He also appealed for peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan, just southwest of Kazakhstan, after reports that new clashes have led to the death of 100 soldiers in recent days.

Nur-Sultan (Agenzia Fides) - The different religious traditions remind us that "we are not omnipotent". Faced with the "mystery of the infinite which ...

The feeling of being creatures united by the bond of fraternity - the Pontiff added in the concluding part of his speech - must guide communities of faith to face together also the global challenges of welcoming and safeguarding creation, our common home. In the present time - continued the Bishop of Rome in the second part of his speech - the communities of believers and leaders are called to face four global challenges: the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, which "has put us all in the same boat", showing that no one is completely independent, no one is completely self-sufficient: The task of believers - the Pope remarked - is also "to help our brothers and sisters at the present time not to forget our vulnerability: not to fall into illusions of omnipotence fostered by a technological and economic progress that is of itself insufficient". The Pope invited everyone to purify themselves "of the presumption of feeling self-righteous with no need to learn anything from anyone", and from those reductive and destructive notions that offend the name of God by harshness, extremism and forms of fundamentalism, and profane it". The Pope, referring to the history of Kazakhstan in the years of the Soviet Union, referred to the legacy of state atheism, to recall that "religion is not a problem, but part of the solution for a more harmonious life in society". And it is also time to "consign to the history books the kind of talk that for all too long, here and elsewhere, has led to distrust and contempt for religion, as if it were a destabilizing force in modern society". From believers and above all from the heads of communities of faith - the Pope continued - the world "expects us to be examples of souls alive and minds clear, it looks to us for an authentic religiosity".

The President of China, Xi Jinping, arrived for a state visit to the capital of Kazakhstan on Wednesday (14 September), coinciding with an official visit of ...

He guides us always in the way of peace, never that of war,” Francis said. Diplomats added that the visit of Xi Jinping was obviously on short notice. Jinping’s visit to Kazakhstan occurs as Russia suffers setbacks on the Ukraine battlefield. This was driven mainly by a 52% increase in Kazakh exports to China, primarily exports of mineral products, fuel, and energy products. The President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, spent the morning with Pope Francis at the Independence Palace, with delegates from more than 100 countries representing Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus and other faiths. Traffic in the Kazakh capital, still named Nur-Sultan, but expected to return to its previous name of Astana, was intense on Wednesday.

NUR SULTAN, Kazakhstan — An outspoken bishop of Kazakhstan's Catholic community, long known for his criticisms of Pope Francis, said on Sept...

Following a final address to the interfaith leaders gathered here in the Kazakh capital, Francis will fly back to Rome, landing in the evening of Sept. "May we realize, in a spirit of humility, that only together, in dialogue and mutual acceptance, can we truly achieve something good for the benefit of all." In this way, faith remains alive and has a future." [allied](https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/distinctly-catholic/who-still-stands-vigan) himself with former Vatican nuncio to the United States, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, who has called on the pope to resign. [criticisms](https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/distinctly-catholic/who-still-stands-vigan) of Pope Francis, said on Sept. An onboard press conference is scheduled during the flight.

After the prayer, the “VII Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions” began and the Plenary Session was held. After the speech of the President of ...

It is leading to an eclipse of the respectful and religious vision of the world willed by the Creator. Yet it is our duty to be mindful that the Creator, who watches over each of his creatures, exhorts us to regard others as he does, and in them to see the face of a brother or a sister. It is above all our task, the task of the religions, to remind the world of this. In addition to the challenges of the pandemic and of peace, let us now turn to a third challenge, that of fraternal acceptance. Abai, in that sense, encourages the expansion of learning beyond the limits of one’s own culture, in order to embrace the knowledge, history and literature of others. Mindful of the wrongs and errors of the past, let us unite our efforts to ensure that the Almighty will never again be held hostage to the human thirst for power. For the young embody the hope that peace will come about, not as the fragile outcome of painstaking negotiations, but as the fruit of persevering commitment to an education that can support their aspirations for development and a serene future. Yet, we look around us and see our time still plagued by the scourge of war, by a climate of hostility and confrontation, by an inability to step back and hold out a hand to the other. In addition to reminding us of our vulnerability and our responsibility, believers in a post-pandemic world are called to care: to care for humanity in all its aspects by becoming artisans of communion, witnesses of a cooperation that transcends the confines of our community, ethnic, national and religious affiliations. Not to let ourselves be entangled in the web of profits and earnings, as if they were the solution to every evil. Those challenges call all of us – and in a special way the religions – to greater unity of purpose. It is also time to consign to the history books the kind of talk that for all too long, here and elsewhere, has led to distrust and contempt for religion, as if it were a destabilizing force in modern society.

Pope Francis on Thursday blessed an icon depicting Mary and the Child Jesus as native Kazakhs, entrusting the Church in Kazakhstan and all of Central Asia ...

He holds a Master’s Degree from the University of Missouri School of Journalism and has worked as a writer, as a producer for public radio, and as a videographer. We provide news about the Church and the world, as seen through the teachings of the Catholic Church. Peta said the new chapel would be built in the shape of a yurt, the traditional round tent used by nomadic groups in Central Asia. Kazakhstan is a majority-Muslim country home to an ethnically diverse minority of Catholics — an estimated 250,000 in total. The Christ Child, who is looking the other way from his mother, “has a mixture of feelings,” the artist noted. At a meeting with bishops, priests, deacons, consecrated persons, seminarians and pastoral workers in the Cathedral of Our Mother of Perpetual Help on Sept.

Following Pope Francis' participation at an interfaith congress and Mass for the country's small Catholic community, our correspondent in Nur-Sultan ...

The Pope accepted his visit to the Central Asian nation south of Russia for the occasion of the 7th Congress of the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions, discussing the role of religious leaders in a post-pandemic world. At the event on Wednesday, the Pope gave a discourse and partook in a moment of private prayer with the other religions. With the backdrop of the war in Ukraine, Pope Francis on Tuesday kicked off his 38th Apostolic Journey to the Central Asian nation of Kazakhstan, marking the 57th country he has visited since the start of his pontificate.

Speaking to priests, religious sisters, and missionaries living in Kazakhstan, where Catholics make up less than 1% of the population, Pope Francis on ...

Pope Francis departs Kazakstan on Thursday afternoon, closing his 38th Apostolic Journey abroad, and is expected to arrive back in Rome after ...

The journey also presented the Pope the opportunity to meet with Kazakh authorities, members of the clergy and the faithful. The Pope participated in the Interfaith Congress and addressed participants during the opening and plenary session on Wednesday and the closing session on Thursday. At the end of his 3-day Apostolic Journey to the Republic of Kazakhstan, Pope Francis departed the Central Asian nation on Thursday afternoon, aboard the papal plane which took off from the Nur-Sultan International Airport at 5:17 PM local time.