international Meeting for Peace', 38th edition in Paris

(ANSA) - PARIGI, 24 SET - Within the framework of the 38th edition of the "International Meeting for Peace 2024" organised by the Community of Sant'Egidio and the Archdiocese of Paris, in the presence of the Undersecretary of State for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Hon. Giorgio Silli, the Ambassador of Italy to France, Emanuela D'Alessandro, together with the President of the Community of Sant'Egidio, Marco Impagliazzo, hosted a reception in honour of the International Meeting at the Embassy yesterday evening. The reception was attended by some 300 guests, including personalities and religious leaders from all over the world.
    In his speech in front of the religious leaders and authorities present, Under-Secretary Silli emphasised how Italy, together with its partners in the European Union, aims to be with its efforts and actions, in a complex era due to the many crises that characterise it, "a point of reference for creating an international order marked by a universalist vision and support for peace and respectful of the values linked to Democracy and respect for Human Rights".
    Silli then emphasised the effective cooperation existing between the Italian government and religious bodies, first and foremost the Community of Sant'Egidio, "to react to and contain the consequences of conflicts and global imbalances in contemporary society".
    In his speech, the President of the Community of Sant'Egidio, Marco Impagliazzo, said: 'we are united by a common mission: to imagine peace, that peace that seems unimaginable, difficult to achieve in a world that rehabilitates war because it has progressively lost its memory. We heard this yesterday in the words of Professor Riccardi. It is in imagination that we find the antidote to resignation. It is through dialogue that the great religions rediscover the meaning of coexistence'. President Impagliazzo then stressed how 'here in Paris, once again a crossroads of dialogue' we must all be 'dreamers, dreamers who, together, learn to become craftsmen of peace'.
    Finally, in her greeting, Ambassador Emanuela D'Alessandro, in expressing her "sincere congratulations to the Archbishop of Paris, Laurent Ulrich, and to the President of the Community of Sant'Egidio, Marco Impagliazzo, for the extraordinary success of the 38th edition of the International Meeting for Peace", emphasised how "the theme of the Meeting, Imagining Peace, poses today to all of us, in the face of numerous current international conflicts, a challenge as urgent as it is complex, in which the religious and community dimension can play a crucial role". The Ambassador then expressed to the Community of Sant'Egidio and to all the religious authorities present "the warmest appreciation for their commitment to peace: an objective for which Italy, together with France, spares no effort".