Day: July 21, 2025

Sea surface temperatures soar near Spain and Portugal, while torrential rain and landslides kill four in South Korea

A recent heatwave in the Mediterranean Sea has been so severe scientists are concerned for marine life.

The human-induced climate crisis is making marine heatwaves more intense and prolonged, with sea surface temperatures off the coast of Mallorca since late June frequently exceeding 30C (86F).

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In a world wracked by war, mistrust, and political gridlock, spiritual leaders from across the globe will gather on September 17–18, 2025, in Astana for the Eighth Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions. The event aims to rekindle the hope of peace, not through the exercise of geopolitical power alone, but by revisiting transcendent truths and moral values.

Convened under the patronage of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, the Congress is more than a ceremonial dialogue among clerics. Organizers and participants describe it as an urgent appeal to depoliticize religion, recalibrate diplomacy, and — channeling John Lennon — “give peace a chance.”

As the principal architect of the Congress, Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev is expected to deliver a speech this September that is as optimistic as his keynote at the opening ceremony of the seventh Congress in 2023, despite deepening diplomatic challenges. Two years ago, he said, “Unfortunately, tension, mutual distrust, and even hostility are returning to international relations. What can we rely on to counter today’s challenges? History provides only one answer: goodwill, dialogue, and cooperation. There are no other guarantees of success. Threats, sanctions, and the use of force do not solve problems… We must turn to humanistic ideals, the main custodians of which are, of course, traditional religions.”

This year’s gathering will once again feature a mosaic of spiritual leaders — from representatives of the Vatican and al-Azhar to leaders of Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Orthodox Christianity. While their theological traditions may differ, their shared focus will be on promoting compassion, truth, and mutual respect in a fractured world.

“The world is spiraling into confrontation because it has lost the language of empathy and the grammar of reason,” Kazakhstan’s Ambassador to India and Senior Advisor at the International Centre for Interfaith and Interreligious Dialogue, Bulat Sarsenbayev, told The Times of Central Asia in an interview. “The Congress in Astana is not about theology alone — it is about restoring sanity in geopolitics.”

A Platform for Peace

According to Maulen Ashimbayev, Speaker of the Kazakh Senate and Chief of the Secretariat of the Congress, the event can serve to help heal an increasingly fractured global landscape. Visiting China in January, Ashimbayev stated that, “The world faces today a rather complicated geopolitical situation. New challenges and problems arise. In these conditions, the collective and united efforts of religious, political, and public leaders to promote a culture of peace and dialogue are gaining importance. The VIII Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions will be dedicated to this very goal.”

From Ceremony to Substance

This year, the Congress is set to explicitly condemn religious extremism and the weaponization of faith, distinguishing between politicized religion and authentic spiritual leadership. Rather than allowing the precept that “might is right” and faith to be hijacked by ideologues, the forum will call for religion to be a bridge-builder, not a wedge, and for diplomats to engage in genuine dialogue in a spirit of compromise, not one-sided diktat.

Past participants have included Pope Francis, Ahmed El-Tayeb (Grand Imam of al-Azhar), and Jewish and Hindu leaders from across the globe. Their message has been consistent: to be for peace is not to be naïve — it is necessary – and without spiritual dialogue, peace will remain elusive.

Reaffirming Universal Values: A Dialogue of Hope

The 2025 Congress is expected to promote natural law principles — universal ethical norms which transcend any man-made pseudo-religious ideological constructs. These include the inviolability of life, freedom of conscience, and the dignity of the family. Such values, say organizers, are essential for diplomacy that is principled, not cynical.

Sarsenbayev reinforced this in stark terms: “The Congress is not a clerical gabfest nor a spectacle of incense and robes. It is a working dialogue grounded in realism—and in the conviction that values such as compassion, justice, and mutual respect are not relics of a pre-modern world but the foundation stones of any sustainable political order.”

To those who view interfaith gatherings with skepticism, Sarsenbayev has a retort: “Peace is not the absence of conflict; it is the presence of understanding. And understanding begins when people of faith and goodwill — which must include diplomats — refuse to surrender to despair.”

A Sacred Public Space

In an era defined by half-truths, power politics, and polarization, the Astana Congress is aiming to recover a vocabulary of dignity and empathy, and challenge the belief that zero-sum thinking and brute force are the only currencies of power.

By bringing religious and moral values into the public arena, the Congress offers a counterweight to despair and an alternative to realpolitik. Its ambition is nothing less than to reclaim the moral imagination of diplomacy, and to remind humanity that what unites us is deeper than what divides us.