In Kazakhstan, Elder Kearon Urges Peace Through Trust and Friendship

Elder Patrick Kearon of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles told a gathering of global faith leaders in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, September 17, 2025, that a template for building a more peaceful world can be found in the ongoing major renovation of the Salt Lake Temple.

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The leader in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said the complex project, which involves hundreds of individuals contributing unique skills to “something greater than themselves,” is a powerful metaphor for building relationships with others.

“We know what a difference it makes when we approach our own personal interactions with the same kind of care we are taking with our historic temple,” Elder Kearon said to those gathered at the Eighth Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions at the Palace of Independence in Astana, Kazakhstan. “I’m grateful for our shared striving — beyond the walls of temples, churches, synagogues, and mosques — to treat the space between us with the same sense of reverence and purpose.”

Building sacred space between people can happen in several ways, Elder Kearon added, such as taking time to listen, replacing judgement with compassion and remembering that “what unites us is far greater than what might divide us.”

“Just as holy edifices rise one stone at a time, so too are peace and understanding built, moment by moment, encounter by encounter,” he said.

The Apostle invited everyone present to attend the Salt Lake Temple open house celebration, which begins in April 2027 and will last six months.

The plenary session theme was “Dialogue of Religions: Synergy for the Future.” The Apostle was joined by Elder Matthew S. Holland of the Seventy, who leads the Church’s global communication efforts. Other notable participants at the gathering were Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb.

Safeguarding Religious Sites

Elder Holland also spoke at the congress, addressing a special session on Tuesday that focused on preserving sacred spaces. The General Authority Seventy said protecting holy ground has never been more important.

“There are places and spaces on this earth that should be treated with special reverence and care,” Elder Holland said. “This is true not because they simply have been built, or simply exist, but because of what happens in and around them.”

With the importance of religious sites in mind, and with so many global faith leaders assembled for the congress, Elder Holland said, it is “fitting, even necessary,” to call for their protection.

“Among other things, this means that we call upon governments, journalists, tourists and others to respect the sacredness and access rules that a particular religion may impose on its own sacred site and the ceremonial activity that goes with it.”

Elder Kearon shared his own story on Wednesday of learning to appreciate religious diversity and the holy space of other faiths. He said that as a young boy, he moved from his native England to a faraway country with a very different culture, climate and religious landscape. He became sensitive to what was sacred to friends of his host nation.

“The way families we knew treated their religious rites and practices with quiet reverence became a beautiful example to me,” said Elder Kearon. “Their holy places had sacred status for them, and this was passed on to me through their example of devotion. It became a tender privilege to enter their holy sites. I came to understand that a sacred space didn’t need to be my sacred space to foster a sense of the sacred in me.”

Honoring others in this way, the Apostle said, is a key ingredient in building peace and human connection. He emphasized compassion, dialogue, listening and understanding as the foundation stones of trust and friendship.

“We can repair what is broken, strengthen what is fragile, and frame a future where peace can replace fear,” Elder Kearon told the Congress. “We can draw closer and forge connections as thoughtfully and hopefully as we build and preserve physical sanctuaries. In doing so, we will best realize the kind of world those buildings represent — a place of heaven on earth. Thank you for being such builders.”

Additional Meetings and Events

In addition to his address at the congress, Elder Kearon also held several private meetings with leaders of other faiths and representatives of the government of Kazakhstan.

The congress itself is valuable with its speeches and breakout sessions, Elder Kearon said. The most valuable aspect of the gathering is the individual meetings that build connection, understanding and friendship.

“We grow in understanding. We know what’s on their mind, and we have so much in common,” Elder Kearon said. “Particularly when we meet in gatherings like this, we don’t focus on the few things that might separate us. We focus on things that unite us and what we might do together.”

Elder Kearon said he observed that the heart of this year’s congress was “the yearning of all of these faiths to find peace for today, our children and our children’s children.”

“That’s a hard thing to do in a troubled world, but when you bring together the millions — billions probably — represented by leaders here, it’s important that we’re part of these conversations and that together we seek these highly important objectives.”

This triennial congress of faith leaders began in 2003 as a response to the September 11 attacks. Elder Paul B. Pieper of the Seventy, who spoke in 2009, was the first Church leader to participate. Other participants through the years have been Elder Jörg Klebingat of the Seventy (2015), Elder Alexey V. Samaykin, former Europe East Area President (2018), and Elder Ulisses Soares of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (2022).