Kazakh Embassy held roundtable on interreligious dialogue in Trieste, Italy

In the roundtable, representatives of the Embassy briefed the Italian audience on the features of the Kazakhstan's model of multiethnic tolerance. Edoardo Canetta, a catholic priest who lived more than 20 years in Kazakhstan participated in the event, the Kazakh MFA's press service said. Professor Canetta told about activities of the Catholic Church in Kazakhstan and shared his personal experience of living in Kazakhstan. He noted: "For centuries Kazakhstan's steppe was a venue for people of various confessions and cultures. In the past, the Kazakh land was ever changing culturally and demographically and became a kind of multinational multi-confessional "melting pot" today. During the Soviet times, Kazakhstan was a place confinement and exile of many political prisoners. Among them there was a considerable number of Catholics. After freeing, many of them remained in this hospitable country." He also underscored, the Catholic Church in Kazakhstan actively participates in maintaining inter-religious harmony in Kazakhstan and has all opportunities to conduct its traditional mission of peacekeeping and enlightenment in the country. A good memorable evidence for this was the visit of Roman Pope John Paul II to Kazakhstan in September 2001. The visit was a remarkable event for many Kazakhstan citizens, including Catholics and others.