The last European wall?” “

A mosaic in place of the little wall: 50 centimetres of concrete, topped by a metre and half of wire fence. It hardly recalls the Berlin Wall, but ever since 1947 it has marked a barrier of separation between Gorizia and Nova Gorica. In that year, in fact, following the signing of the peace treaty, the city was divided into two zones: the Italian zone, Gorizia, which now has some 38,000 inhabitants, and the former Yugoslav, now Slovene zone, Nova Gorica, with some 15,000 inhabitants. To mark the frontier between the two parts of the city a barrier of barbed wire was erected; it was later replaced by a wall half a metre in height with a metal fence on top of it. On 12 February the bulldozers demolished the first 46 metres of this barrier to make way for a mosaic glorifying the values of peace, solidarity and European unity. This is a foretaste of what will happen on 30 April, on the eve of the entry into the EU of ten new members, including Slovenia, when in the presence of the highest representatives of the Italian and Slovene states and of the EU, the final pick-axe blow will be given to a wall of separation that has lasted for over fifty years. Purifying the memory. “We are delighted by the demolition of all walls that separate peoples,” commented Msgr. Franc Rodé, Metropolitan Archbishop of Ljubljana and president of the Slovene Episcopal Conference. “As the Pope recently said, we have a need for bridges, not walls. We are – Archbishop Rodé continued – experiencing a particular period of rapprochement between Slovenia and Italy. It’s a happy time because another frontier is vanishing in Europe. The peoples of Europe are drawing ever closer together. The Italians and the Slovenes, besides, share strong Christian roots, and these initiatives will help to promote and improve their social, political and economic relations. There must be no more fears. Gorizia and Nova Gorica can become a laboratory of dialogue”. Nonetheless, warns Msgr. Rodè, “demolishing walls does not automatically mean healing people’s wounds. That is the great challenge we need to overcome: purifying the memory and having a different view of the past. If Europe is to become a reality, said Romano Guardini, each nation needs to rethink its own past history, and understand and experience it in the light of the great reality of the union of European states”. THE COMMITMENT OF THE TWO CHURCHES. “With the demolition of the wall we’ll no longer see a divided city. It’s a foretaste of what will happen on 30 April, when Slovenia will enter the European Union. The hope is that the destruction of the fence may also be matched by the removal of the barrier that still persists in people’s heads”. Archbishop Dino De Antoni of Gorizia does not disguise the difficulties, but is also hopeful that the wounds of the past can be healed. “The past sufferings of these two peoples still mark the memories of many. In this field, the two churches, Italian and Slovene, are trying to work together. With the neighbouring diocese of Koper (Capodistria), a number of joint projects have been begun. The association “Concordia et Pax”, formed of laypeople and priests from Gorizia and Nova Gorica, is also helping to promote reconciliation. The will, not only of believers, to cooperate to ensure that concord and unity replace the walls of division, is clearly emerging”. Mosaic OF PEACE. “This is the initial act of dismantling the wall that has separated the two centres of Gorizia and Nova Gorica since 1947 – explains the spokesman of the town council of Gorizia, Davide Sfiligoi – With this act we have opened two building sites, one Italian, the other Slovene, to simultaneously remove the wall, metre by metre. The final blow of the pickaxe, perhaps given by European Commission President Romano Prodi, is scheduled for the night between 30 April and 1st May, when the Europe of the 15 will become 25. A mosaic on the theme of peace and unity, the work of an artist from Trieste, but belonging to the Slovene minority, will then be inaugurated. But let’s not forget the contribution of religions. That’s why the festival of 30 April will be opened by an interreligious celebration in the Piazzale della Transalpina”.