As bishop of this town and of the diocese of Barcelona, in this moment I give thanks to God and to all of you, men and women, coming from many religions and many different countries and civilizations, participating in this Fifteenth International Interreligious Meeting of Barcelona.

I also give thanks to the Community of Sant�Egidio and to its founder, Mr Andrea Riccardi, and to all those who cooperated in Rome and in many other countries in the world, especially to the members of the Community of Sant�Egidio in Barcelona, who have been working hard for several months to prepare this meeting, coming now to its conclusion.

Now we are going back to our countries after these three days in which we have been carrying on a dialogue in an atmosphere of mutual respect and true friendship with a precise engagement: joining the spirit of Assisi. We must continue this pilgrimage of peace an reconciliation, which John Paul II started, having a prophetic inspiration I believe, in 1986 in Assisi, fifteen years ago.

This spirit of Assisi is today�s response to what Church always did, is doing and will continue to do: protecting man, in the name of God, from any kind of aggression, terrorism and other threats to life, and promoting justice and harmony in human relationship.

These fifteen meetings taking place under the auspices of the Community of Sant�Egidio, with the support of a great number of representatives of the religious world and of humanism, show that the torch lit in Assisi is not extinguished, but passes from hand to hand and its vocation is to be spread more and more on the streets and all over the nations of the world.

This is our engagement. �Dialogue must continue�, the Holy Father John Paul II said to us. In 1992, almost nine years ago, this town of Barcelona welcomed the Olympic Games and spread a motto that became a hymn: �Friends forever�. If nine years ago, in the name of the spirit of the Olympic Games, men pledged to be friends, today, in the name of faith in God and in the name of dignity, residing in every person, man or woman, believer or non-believer, of any colour, race and continent, I think we must say: �We want to be friends forever�.