Astana (AsiaNews) – Leaders of the main world religions have signed a joint declaration that "aims to eliminate prejudice, ignorance and misrepresentation of other religions".

The declaration was approved in Astana by 41 delegations who took part in the second Congress of Leaders of World Religions, which closed yesterday. The objective of the meeting was "promotion of inter-faith harmony and dialogue".

The delegations represented Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Judaism, Shinto, Taoism and Hinduism as well as non-governmental organizations and politicians from the international scene.

The statement called for concrete commitment from all religions to promote dialogue in their communities, emphasizing "what is common rather than what divides us".

"Condemnation of terrorism" featured prominently in this shared vision: "justice and truth can never be established through fear and bloodshed and the use of such means is a violation and betrayal of any faith that appeals to human goodness and dialogue."

The theme was taken up by the representative of the Catholic Church, Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, who said: "The most important thing in religion is freedom of belief. We, participants of the meeting, are all in search of peace and stability." To this end, the cardinal urged participants to "look at the example of Kazakhstan, a model of coexistence of religions and State".

As the congress wound up, the shared aim of boosting inter-faith dialogue was reaffirmed and next meeting of the Congress was set to be held in 2009, once again in Astana.