Mattarella at the Rimini Meeting: “Reject hatred to foster peace”

“Solidarity, social friendship and the selflessness of love can open up new horizons for politics, the economy and civic life.” So reads the message that the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, sent to Bernhard Scholz, President of the Meeting for Friendship amongst Peoples Foundation, on the opening day of the Rimini Meeting. “We are living in a time when heinous wars are being waged, inequalities are growing whilst extremely small oligarchies accumulate powers greater than those of many sovereign states,” the text continues, going on to state that “It is from the humanity of women and men that we can draw the strength to reject conformity, passivity, hatred and aversion to those who are different or foreign, and to educate for peace”.

Mattarella celebrates the importance of the annual event, launched in 1980 by the Catholic movement Communion and Liberation (CL): “It is a significant occasion. Now in its 47th edition, it embodies a history and, in times of extraordinary change, aims to continue contributing to the making of history, coherently weaving together the threads of its own.” He continues: “This year, the focus has been on love. The closing line of Dante’s “Divine Comedy” – “The love that moves the sun and the other stars” (the title of this edition, ed.) – does not merely express a feeling of individual experience. Love that opens us up to others, beyond ourselves and our present, is an inner force that takes on a relational and, therefore, social dimension – a precious one. Linking the ‘I’ to the ‘you’, to the ‘we’, breaks down isolation and charts a course for human journeys. It is the opposite – he continues – of the false realism that leads to inertia, mistrust and resignation, when in fact the destiny of communities is to become the protagonists of their own future. Pope Leo XIV referred to this in his ‘Magnifica humanitas’. A humanity not shut away behind illusory walls and condemned to selfishness, but rather one that is open and sensitive to the injustices and tragedies of those who suffer, ready to build new bridges.” Pope Leo is expected to attend the event tomorrow.

Mattarella’s message concludes with a wish for the Meeting and all its participants to “continue to build horizons of humanity with generosity”. The event will draw to a close on Wednesday 26 August.