” “"We have gone a long way, from Assisi to this place". It is the road of "a covenant of dialogue" entered by "men and women who ignored each other beforehand and now have started to see each other as brothers and sisters". With these words, the founder of the Comunità di Sant’Egidio, Andrea Riccardi, opened in Washington D.C. yesterday the world meeting of religions for peace, which this year is held for the very first time in the United States, on the twentieth anniversary of the Day of Prayer for Peace of Assisi. "For twenty years said Riccardi yesterday we have been pilgrims of dialogue between peoples of different religions. We began in 1986. It was at that time that Pope John Paul II invited the religious leaders to pray, side by side, for peace in Assisi. The Pope had understood that religions can be like fuel on the flame of conflict or like water on the fire of war". Year after year, the Comunità di Sant’Egidio has promoted, in the spirit of 1986, world meetings between religions in the main Italian cities and in the European capitals. "Today, we are in Washington said Riccardi we should have come after September 11th" to say that "the spirit of Assisi is a wind that blows barriers down" and that "differences cannot be a reason to hate each other. God does not want hatred: He cannot want war and violence". ” “
