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errorism has become a threat to us all with, most recently, the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group deliberately using a religious front and killing Muslims, Christians and others to put forward its agenda.

But Islam and all other religions have come together in condemning the brutal killings of innocent people in the name of religion.  

'€œWe strongly condemn terrorism. No religion supports violence and anarchy,'€ leaders of Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Shintoism and Taoism from 16 countries said on Thursday evening after a two-day meeting in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan.

They gathered in Astana to attend the 13th session of the Secretariat of the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions to set the agenda for the Fifth Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions. The congress will be held in Astana in June 2015.

The Congress, a global initiative to promote dialogue between religious leaders to foster peace and harmony, was launched by Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev in 2003.  

In his opening speech, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, head of the Secretariat of the Congress of World and Traditional Religions and chairman of Kazakhstan'€™s Senate, said that constructive dialogue between religious leaders would promote mutual understanding but was not enough.

'€œWe should invite political leaders to next year'€™s congress to make it more effective. Together, we can do much more than one at a time,'€ Tokayev said.

For the first time in 11 years, Astana will be inviting highly influential leaders from various countries.

'€œWe will be inviting the presidents and prime ministers of several countries for the next congress. But we will be selective. Of course, we will invite Indonesian leaders,'€ Kazakhstan Vice Foreign Minister Yerzhan Ashikbaev said.

Indonesia, home to the world'€™s biggest Muslim population, recently hosted the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations in Bali. Kazakhstan Foreign Minister Erlan Idrissov attended the meeting.

'€œWe have good relations with Kazakhstan. Both [countries] can work together in this field,'€ Indonesian ambassador to Kazakhstan Foster Gultom told The Jakarta Post in Astana on Friday.

While commenting on the latest situation in Iraq and Syria, a representative from the Vatican said terrorists had lost their sense of humanity.

'€œReligious leaders should be unanimous in condemning violence in general and especially violence in the name of religion. Because we don'€™t offend. We can'€™t kill a brother or a sister,'€ said Khaled Akasheh, bureau chief of the Islam Political Council for Interreligious Dialogue of the Vatican City.

'€œAnd in cases when this happens, if this happens in the name of religion, this is a double crime. Because we offend human beings, the creator and at the same time we offend the religion to which we belong,'€ he said.

Not all religions associate Islam with violence.

'€œIslam is a religion of peace. There is no doubt about it,'€ said the bishop of Kazakhstan'€™s Evangelical Lutheran Church, Yuri Novgorodov.

Echoing a similar view, a representative from Saudi Arabia lambasted the IS organization and its ideology.

'€œIS has nothing to do with Islam and it is tarnishing our religion'€™s name by killing innocent people, including Muslims, in the name of religion. They [IS members] are criminals,'€ Abdullah Fahad al-Lheedan, advisor to the Saudi Arabian Minister of Islamic Affairs, told the Post on the sidelines of the meeting.

Abdullah praised Indonesia for taking the right measures to curb IS activities.

'€œI heard that the Indonesian government and Islamic organizations like Muhammadiyah and Nahdlatul Ulama have joined together to work against IS. It'€™s good,'€ said Abdullah, who knows Indonesia'€™s top religious leaders personally.