SW News: During his concluding remarks at the 7th Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions in the Kazakh capital Nur Sultan on Thursday, the Holy Father said it is necessary to respond collectively to the “incendiary atmosphere that terrorist violence sought to incite, and which threatened to turn religion into a grounds for conflict”.

The pope warned everyone to be wary of pseudo-religious terrorism, extremism, radicalism and nationalism which masquerade in religious garb. He added that it was providential that religious leaders could come together once again to reaffirm the authentic and inalienable essence of religion.

In his address, the pope said that those who legitimately wish to give voice to their beliefs must be protected always and everywhere. “Many people are even now persecuted and discriminated against on account of their faith. So, we must ensure that religious freedom will never be a mere abstraction but a concrete right”.

His Holiness the pope made it clear that the Church believes in the unity of the human family. The Church believes that all “humanity forms but one community and wishes to continue to do so for the path of interreligious dialogue is a shared path to peace and for peace, it is necessary and irrevocable”.

"Peace is urgently needed because in our day every military conflict or hotspot of tension and confrontation will necessarily have a baneful 'domino effect' and seriously compromise the system of international relations,” he said. On the other hand, the Holy Father said peace “is more than the absence of war: it cannot be reduced to the maintenance of the balance of power between opposing forces nor does it arise out of despotic dominion but it is appropriately called ‘the effect of righteousness’.”

Women should be involved more in the efforts towards peace, said the pontiff. He also stressed that young people are messengers of peace and unity in the present and the future.