change language
you are in: home - news newslettercontact uslink

Support the Community

  
July 21 2017 | ROME, ITALY

Opening 'Paths of Peace' in a world marked by too many conflicts: the International meeting of world religions for peace

Marco Impagliazzo: 'It will be the most important event for peace of the year, a strong message against wars, divisions and walls, in order to restore a soul to countries and continents in crisis'

 
printable version

"There are wars that last for too long, such as those in Syria and Iraq. But also low-intensity conflicts, many in Africa and elsewhere, terrorism and the widespread violence as in different countries in Latin America. We need to send a strong message to the world. We will do it from the heart of a Europe that, even in a crisis of solidarity, must find its foundation in building peace". The President of the Community of Sant'Egidio, Marco Impagliazzo, said these words to introduce "Paths of Peace", the international meeting in the "Spirit of Assisi", which will take place from 10 to 12 September in the German cities of Münster and Osnabrück.

Impagliazzo said that the meeting will be the "first major international peace event of 2017", in a world increasingly marked by conflicts. He said: "Peace is a topic that needs to be re-launched, even at the more popular level". In addition to the presence of hundreds of prominent representatives of religions (Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists and other Asian religions), institutional and cultural authorities, there will be also a large popular participation in Germany with many young people from all over Europe, supporting of the meeting that is organized every year by the Community of Sant'Egidio, after the historic day of Prayer for Peace of Assisi, promoted by St. John Paul II in 1986.

"Religions - said Impagliazzo - increase passions and emotions and can also be manipulated. But if we turn them to peace and dialogue, they return a soul to countries and continents that are in crisis and divided. Religions, if properly interpreted, are the opposite of racism, because they do not focus on ethnic or race, and they are the opposite of classism, because they strive for equality, as well as they promote the unity of mankind. Religions are also useful to re-understand globalization, to look at the changes that are taking place in our societies".

Among the authorities who will join the event there are the German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the Great Imam of Al-Azhar Al-Tayyeb (the highest authority of Sunni Islam, who recently welcomed Pope Francis in Cairo), the President of Niger Mahamadou Issoufou (Chief of a country where the large stream of migrants flows, strategic for the fight to terrorism). There will also be Antonio Tajani, President of the European Parliament, John X, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and all the East (from Damascus), the Director of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel Moshe Dagan; Cardinal Ernest Simoni from Albania; Father José Alejandro Solalinde from Mexico, Cardinal Dieudonné Nzapalainga (Central African Republic), Chief Rabbi of Turkey Isak Haleve, the representative of the Rohingya from Burma Al-Haj U Aye Lwin, Reverend Munib Younan, President of the World Lutheran Federation; Cardinal John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan and Sultan Al Hajji Muhammad Sa'ad Abubakar III from Nigeria, the Great Imam of Lahore Mosque (Pakistan) Muhammad Abdul Khabir Azad, and several representatives of Asian religions.

Non-violence, disarmament, migration, right to health, corruption and social justice are some of the topics that will be discussed during the many roundtables that are scheduled. There will be also a focus on some countries such as Syria, Iraq and Tunisia with the intervention of some witnesses.

 

Paths of Peace, Münster-Osnabrück 2017: INFO PROGRAMME AND CONTACTS

ASSOCIATED OBJECTS

 ALSO READ
• NEWS
October 24 2011

The Spirit of Assisi: 25 Years of Prayer for Peace

IT | EN | ES | DE | FR | PT | CA | NL | RU
March 21 2011

Jos (Nigeria): a Conference on peace, the service to the poor and the intereligious dialogue

IT | EN | ES | DE | FR | PT | CA | NL
all the news
• PRESS
February 26 2018
Roma sette

Congo e Sud Sudan, Gnavi: «La liberazione ha il nome di Gesù»

February 23 2018
Domradio.de

"Wir können Frieden organisieren wie andere den Krieg"

February 22 2018
Famiglia Cristiana

La preghiera sia un urlo contro le guerre

February 21 2018
Vatican Insider

Sant’Egidio si unisce alla Giornata di digiuno per Congo e Sud Sudan indetta dal Papa

February 21 2018
SIR

Giornata preghiera e digiuno: Comunità di Sant’Egidio, adesione all’invito del Papa. Veglia nella basilica di Santa Maria in Trastevere a Roma e in molte città italiane

February 7 2018
Vaticannews

“Fare pace”: la diplomazia della speranza cristiana di Sant’Egidio

the entire press review
• NO DEATH PENALTY
October 10 2017

On 15th World Day Against the Death Penalty let us visit the poorest convicts in Africa

October 7 2015
UNITED STATES

The World Coalition Against the Death Penalty - XIII world day against the death penalty

October 5 2015
EFE

Fallece un preso japonés tras pasar 43 años en el corredor de la muerte

September 24 2015

Pope Francis calls on Congress to end the death penalty. "Every life is sacred", he said

March 12 2015
AFP

Arabie: trois hommes dont un Saoudien exécutés pour trafic de drogue

March 12 2015
Associated Press

Death penalty: a look at how some US states handle execution drug shortage

March 9 2015
Reuters

Australia to restate opposition to death penalty as executions loom in Indonesia

March 9 2015
AFP

Le Pakistan repousse de facto l'exécution du meurtrier d'un critique de la loi sur le blasphème

March 9 2015
AFP

Peine de mort en Indonésie: la justice va étudier un appel des deux trafiquants australiens

February 28 2015
UNITED STATES

13 Ways Of Looking At The Death Penalty

February 15 2015

Archbishop Chaput applauds Penn. governor for halt to death penalty

December 11 2014
MADAGASCAR

C’est désormais officiel: Madagascar vient d’abolir la peine de mort!

go to no death penalty
• DOCUMENTS

''Entente de Sant'Egidio'': Political Agreement for Peace in the Central African Republic

Libya: The humanitarian agreement for the region of Fezzan, signed at Sant'Egidio on June 16th 2016 (Arabic text)

Nuclear Disarmament Symposium on the 70 th anniversary of the atomic bomb. Hiroshima, August 6 2015

Speech of Ahmad Al-Tayyeb, Grand Imam of Al Azhar at "East and West: dialogues between civilizations" (Arabic)

all documents