DIALOGUE
St. Egidio: “the spirit of Assisi” in SpainThe “spirit of Assisi” returns to Spain with a meeting in Barcelona organized by the Community of St. Egidio in cooperation with the Archdiocese. Catholic Church dignitaries and eminent ecumenical representatives – from the Patriarchate of Moscow to the World Council of Churches -, along with religious representatives of the World Lutheran Federation, the World Methodist Council, Jewish and Muslim religious leaders (from 16 different Countries) and representatives of the major Asian religions will convene for the 26th international peace encounter titled “Living together in a time of crisis. Family of peoples, family of God” due to be held next October 3-5. Lay cultural and political personalities from Latin America, Europe and Africa will debate proposals and seek joint solutions to the decade-long world crisis and to terrorism. “At a difficult time, marked by financial crises and regional conflicts that cause uncertainties, concern and disorientation, religions seek to recover, through dialogue, the spiritual energies that can be offered to a world without vision and thus without a future”, states a press release by the St. Egidio community. Germany: a new synagogue in Mainz The Jewish community opened a new synagogue in Mainz on the very site of the previous one, built between 1911 and 1912, and destroyed 72 years ago by the Nazis. The ceremony was attended, among others, by the President of the Federal Republic Christian Wulff, by the president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Charlotte Knobloch and by Minister President of the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate Kurt Beck. The City of Mainz and the Federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate subsidized the construction-project (amounting to 10-million euros) consisting of the synagogue and a community centre, while the Jewish community funded 1 million euros for decoration and interiors. In 2008, as the Synagogue’s cornerstone was officially laid, Beck said it was “a banner against marginalization and inhumanity”. The first stone bore a placard describing the building as “the home of life, learning and prayer”. There were 1450 Jews in 1939, most of whom were killed by the Nazis. Numbers today are back to 1000 also thanks to Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe.Italy: a Mosque in Milan, overcoming “polemics”Continuing along the path of “mutual trust” and “increasing mutual understanding” in order to jointly address the most challenging questions of coexistence, overcoming sterile polemics. The “proposal” was put forward by Father Giampiero Alberti, Consultant for Relations with Islam at the Office for Ecumenism and Dialogue at Milan’s diocese. While refraining from intervening in the polemics on the building of a mosque in Milan, Father Alberti said that in the past month our “Muslim friends” officiated the Ramadan daily prayers for the break of the fasting in different locations. “Muslims living among us thus bore testimony to their commitment to live the Ramadan”, he remarked. “They displayed an attachment to their identity and the yearning to be a constant example to their children. This took place in silence, in the evening shadows”. “Now this path must be pursued by addressing challenging issues. This will bring ever greater understanding, respect, cooperation, and peaceful coexistence, while seeking the solutions to numerous problems of coexistence, overcoming sterile polemics and prejudice fomented by the media, probably motivated by fear and by the lack of clarifying encounters”, he added. The priest invited to reflect on the appeal of the archbishop of Milan, Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi, addressed a few days ago to the Muslim community on the occasion of the end of Ramadan: “to jointly renew our commitment for the benefit of this society that swings from the choice of reception to hostility; and may the joint path leading to peace in justice be established in our communities and across civil society and its institutions”, the archbishop said. On September 7, the St. Egidio Community hosted an evening of prayer and friendship between Muslims and Christians in the month of Ramadan, which was also attended by the representatives of religious communities from the Forum of Religions in Milan.
