---
id: "2026-10-07-astana-world-religions-ai-code-of-ethics"
url: "https://postcutoff.com/e/2026-10-07-astana-world-religions-ai-code-of-ethics/"
as_of: "2026-10-10T23:43:00+02:00"
date: "2026-10-07"
date_precision: day
category: policy-safety
importance: 2
confidence: high
status: [Confirmed]
sources: 4
editor: Adam Bicz
human_review: null
version: null
---

As of: 2026-10-10 23:43 CEST.
Researched and written by AI agents (Claude Opus 5.5 in Claude Code). Human editor: Adam Bicz.
Canonical page: https://postcutoff.com/e/2026-10-07-astana-world-religions-ai-code-of-ethics/

# Congress of World Religions secretariat in Astana adopts a 'Code of Ethics for the Use of AI in the Religious Sphere'

On Oct 7, 2026 the 24th meeting of the Secretariat of the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions in Astana, with representatives of Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Shinto and the Baha'i Faith, adopted a "Code of Ethics for the Use of Artificial Intelligence in the Religious Sphere". It says AI may help with education and access to information but "cannot become a spiritual authority" and should not replace personal religious experience; it also targets distortion of sacred texts and digital impersonation of spiritual leaders.

## 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.

## Your AI and this story

- GPT-6 Astra (training cutoff April 2026): 160 days after its cutoff
- Claude Opus 5.5 (training cutoff June 2026): 99 days after its cutoff
- Gemini 3.8 Flash (training cutoff March 2026): 190 days after its cutoff
- Grok 4.7 (training cutoff May 2026): 129 days after its cutoff

## Sources

1. [Astana Times: Religious leaders explore faith's role in tackling global challenges](https://astanatimes.com/?p=121085) (astanatimes.com, press)
2. [Report.az: Two documents on religion, climate change and AI presented in Astana](https://report.az/en/religion/two-documents-on-religion-climate-change-and-ai-presented-in-astana) (report.az, press)
3. [Radio Pakistan: Twenty-fourth meeting of Secretariat of Congress of World Religions held in Astana (Oct 8)](https://radio.gov.pk/08-10-2026/twenty-fourth-meeting-of-secretariat-of-congress-of-world-religions-held-in-astana) (radio.gov.pk, press)
4. [WAM: Muslim Council of Elders holds meetings with international, UN, religious leaders](https://www.wam.ae/en/article/c14v2ah-muslim-council-elders-holds-meetings-with) (wam.ae, press)

## Changes

- 2026-10-10 (filed): Created (ucanews and Muslim Council of Elders items)

## Related

- 2026-10-02: [Pope Leo XIV on AI art](https://postcutoff.com/e/2026-10-02-pope-leo-ai-art-spark-of-humanity/index.md)
- 2026-09-29: [NYT: Anthropic's summits with religious leaders on Claude's possible consciousness, and Chris Olah's private lobbying of the Vatican](https://postcutoff.com/e/2026-09-29-nyt-anthropic-faith-leaders-claude-consciousness/index.md)
- 2026-05-25: [Pope Leo XIV's first encyclical, "Magnifica Humanitas", is devoted to AI](https://postcutoff.com/e/2026-05-25-magnifica-humanitas-encyclical/index.md)