Congress of World Religions secretariat in Astana adopts a ‘Code of Ethics for the Use of AI in the Religious Sphere’
Confirmed
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- Importance
- 2 of 5
- Last verified
- 10 October 2026
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Key facts
- Meeting: 24th Secretariat session, Astana, Oct 7, 2026, chaired by Secretariat head Erlan Karin (described by the Astana Times as Kazakhstan’s Vice President); speakers included Türkiye’s Presidency of Religious Affairs, the UN Alliance of Civilizations and the Anglican Communion; officials and experts from 20 countries (Astana Times)
- Three documents adopted: the AI code of ethics, ‘Role of Religions in Combating Climate Change’ and a ‘Charter of the Rights of Terminally Ill Children’
- Code: ‘Artificial intelligence can help, but it cannot become a spiritual authority’; covers protecting spiritual heritage and preventing distortion of religious texts and digital impersonation of spiritual leaders
- Karin: ‘Technological development cannot outpace our moral responsibility. The broader the capabilities of algorithms, the greater the human responsibility.’
- Next: 9th Congress in 2028, 25th-anniversary Secretariat session in 2027
- Same week: the Muslim Council of Elders (a member body) stressed religious leaders’ role in keeping AI ‘dedicated to serving humanity’ (WAM)
What happened
Kazakhstan’s interfaith congress, which meets every three years with a secretariat in between, used its October secretariat session to adopt guidelines on AI in religious life. ucanews reported it on Oct 9 as “Faith leaders agree on AI, climate and child rights”.
Why it matters
Major faith bodies are setting their own AI norms in the months after Pope Leo’s encyclical and Anthropic’s outreach to religious leaders; this code is a multi-faith text that rejects AI as a source of spiritual authority.
Sources
4 sources from 4 sites. Numbers match the chips in the text.
4 sources: 4 press
Press
- Astana Times: Religious leaders explore faith’s role in tackling global challengesastanatimes.com, press
- Report.az: Two documents on religion, climate change and AI presented in Astanareport.az, press
- Radio Pakistan: Twenty-fourth meeting of Secretariat of Congress of World Religions held in Astana (Oct 8)radio.gov.pk, press
- WAM: Muslim Council of Elders holds meetings with international, UN, religious leaderswam.ae, press
Changes
- Filed (ucanews and Muslim Council of Elders items)