Department for External Church Relations
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DECR representative attends international conference on extremism in Pakistan
DECR Communication Service, 29.10.2025.
On October 25-26, the 8th International Conference on World Religions titled "Building Resilient Societies: Preventing Extremism at its Roots" took place in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. It was organized by the School of Religion and Philosophy at the Minhaj University Lahore (MUL).
Among prominent religious figures and scholars from Pakistan attending the conference were Prof. Dr. Hussain Mohi-ud-Din Qadri; Prof. Dr. Hasan Mohi-ud-Din Qadri, deputy chairman of the MUL Board of Governors; Prof. Dr. Herman Roborgh, head of the School of Religion and Philosophy at the MUL; Dr. Shoaib Suddle, chairman of the Commission for Minority Rights; Sheikh Mehmood Tahir al-Ashrafi, chairman of the Pakistan Ulema Council; and Dr. Kaiser Rafiq, chairman of Discover Pakistan TV. Taking part in the conference were scholars from the United States, Sri Lanka, Australia, Kenya, South Korea, and other countries.
Attending the conference with the blessing of Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations, was hieromonk Grigory (Matrusov) who presented a report in which he underscored the need to identify the sources of radicalism, extremism, and violence. Also, he said that believers of traditional religions are called to reject extremism and combat its causes together.
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On 12th February 2025, the Federal Cabinet of Pakistan approved a policy statement on "Interfaith Harmony" and a strategy on "Religious Tolerance." Due to release of these documents, the conference addressed issues related to identifying the causes of religious extremism in Pakistan and finding practical measures for combating it in the country and abroad.
The Minhaj University Lahore is an academic institution in Pakistan that explores various religious traditions on a practical level. Among other things, it facilitates interfaith interaction.
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