Meeting in Rimini, Mattarella closes on 25 August on the day of remembrance of the flood

The wounds of the territory, the needs of the communities, the rebirth. The flood inevitably enters Romagna, this time – together with the war and reforms in Italy – among the topics of the 44th Meeting of Communion and Liberation (August 20-25, at the Rimini Fair): an edition that will be closed by the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella and opened by the president of the CEI, and cardinal of Bologna, Matteo Zuppi.
“We will reflect on the trends that threaten our democracies, on the pitfalls of cancel culture, on the evolution of artificial intelligence and the metaverse”, underlines Bernhard Scholzpresident of the Foundation of the Meeting for Friendship among Peoples, during the presentation at Palazzo Borromeo, at the Italian Embassy of the Holy See.

Dedication to Aldo Moro

Much anticipation is linked to the presence of Mattarella and the topics on which he will focus. And perhaps it is no coincidence that, on the same day, there is also talk of a figure dear to the head of state: “Aldo Moro, the young and us: a living friendship”, with the journalist Angelo Picariello. Which significantly recalls how “the Christian Democrat statesman was the only politician present at the first political demonstration of the Movement. He was curious about what was happening among the young people, he got confused in the crowd ”.

Among the guests, politicians and actors

Various ministers participate in this edition, including the deputy prime minister Antonio Tajani which is at home at the Meeting. And for Palazzo Chigi there will be Alfredo Mantovano, the undersecretary to the Presidency of the Council. While with the president of the Constitutional Court Silvana Sciarra we will talk about the link between democracy and work. The artistic parterre is also of weight: with Sergio Rubini And Gabriel Lavia.

In the land of the flood

On the last day of the Meeting, a space will be dedicated “to listening to some testimonies from the flood that hit Romagna”, underlines Emmanuel Forlani, director of the Rimini Meeting Foundation. The commissioner for reconstruction and the mayor of Ravenna will also participate in that meeting – he adds – It will be an opportunity to also ask the institutions to intervene. A point of comparison that seemed right to us not only because Rimini is in Romagna, but because what we have seen happen”.

The theme of the 44th edition

On the other hand, sustainable development will also be discussed and, inevitably, the listening of a part of the country has to do with the theme of the 44th edition: “Human existence is an inexhaustible friendship”. Thought to which the words of are linked here Giussani: “If we look at a man, a woman, a friend, a passer-by without the reverberation of that question echoing in us, of that thirst for destiny that constitutes him, our relationship would not be a human relationship, much less could it be a love relationship at any level”.

The foreign minister

The head of the Farnesina specified: “At the Meeting we will illustrate, through a large exhibition space, what the Italian Cooperation achieves, with its national, European and international partners, to face the great global challenges of our time, speaking first of all to the new generations”. But a main theme of the Meeting – continues Scholz – “will be work, in particular work as a decisive factor in the integration of immigrants”.

Cultura, the exhibition on the shape of words

On the specifically cultural side, the Meeting reserves this year, among others, an interesting international exhibition which is a dialogue between generations, “The shape of words”, told in a conference by Micol Forti, the curator of the modern and contemporary art collection of the Vatican Museums. “Art does not give answers but provokes questions, about us and about the future, and we wanted to give the floor to the youngest who have found themselves with great masters: from the ninety-year-old Michelangelo Pistoletto at the centenary Guido Strazzaand many others who have marked our time: Paladino, Ceroli, Jodice, Cattelan“