I left home at 8am on Monday morning, caught a delayed flight (with two colleagues) to Istanbul, missed the connection to Astana, got transferred to a later flight and got here just a couple of hours ago. Since then I have been dealing with administrative matters and now daren’t sleep for fear of skewering my constitution for the hard work of the next few days.
But here is the view from the 16th floor window of my hotel, overlooking a cityscape that didn’t exist when I first came here six years ago:
Astana is the capital of Kazakhstan. In 2003 a Congress was initiated by President Nursultan Nazarbayev and tomorrow the Third Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions begins in the remarkable Palace of Peace and Accord – which is a pyramid designed by Sir Norman Foster three years ago. I represented the Archbishop of Canterbury at the first (2003) and second (2006) Congresses and am filling the same shoes this time, too. However, this time I have two colleagues with me, so won’t feel like ‘Jonny No-mates’ when faced with the hordes from the Vatican.
This Congress brings together a remarkable array of top religious leaders from all over the globe. We are talking about the two Chief Rabbis from Israel, top Muslims from everywhere, the Ecumenical Patriarch, top Buddhists, Hindus, Christians and lots of others. If the Pope and the Archbishop of Canterbury were here, you’d have hit interreligious jackpot!
It is easy to dismiss what I have sometimes rudely called the ‘inter-faith circus’ where the same people meet in lots of exotic places around the world and say how good it is to talk. But it actually is remarkable that the Kazakhs can pull together the people they do … who are then compelled to sit in the same space and listen to things that make them uncomfortable. The final declarations of events such as this can easily be dismissed as ‘motherhood and apple pie’ resolutions, but they do then exist as agreed statements by religious leaders and this builds up over time a body of consent.
The hard task, however, is how to get this stuff down to the grassroots. Religious leaders can agree all they like, but it doesn’t necessarily translate to changes in attitude or behaviour closer to the ground where religious communities actually live and struggle and fight for daily bread. This challenge is one that I will be reiterating in my speech in tomorrow’s opening plenary session.
And today? I am meeting a friend for lunch, doing some sightseeing this afternoon, meeting a journalist for an interview this evening and then sleeping for ages so I can be fresh for tomorrow’s start. I will comment as we go and will also tackle some of the political questions around this sort of initiative later on.
June 30, 2009 at 7:13 am
Good luck with the visit, Nick and thanks for representing us – take care
June 30, 2009 at 9:30 am
Hello Nick
Loved the photograph from your hotel window lovely;
Love reading your blogs here in Liverpool, Auntie Doreen sent me a cutting of you from her local paper which was taken at Betchworth Communion service, as she keeps me informed and I send her your blogs which she loves to read.
Best wishes for your trip.
June 30, 2009 at 10:05 am
Thanks Nick – am looking forward to reading your comments on this interesting congress. Hope it all goes well.
Anne.
June 30, 2009 at 9:36 pm
Check out what religious liberty looks like on a daily basis in many parts of KZ at http://www.forum18.org. As you say, there is a LONG way to go to get this sort of tolerance and diversity ingrained into the lives of regular people, and even many of the political leaders. Good luck at the congress, and God bless.