“We have been forced by Love to promote the Meeting in Sarajevo” was declared today by Msgr. Vincenzo Paglia during the Press Conference in Sarajevo at the presence of more than 60 national and international journalists and many religious and political authorities. He explained the reason because of the Community of Sant’Egidio, following the important meeting of Munich 2011, decided to hold the Conference of 2012 in Sarajevo, on the next September.

“Our task today, as Peoples of Religion, is to design again the future of the Humanity.  We would like to restart  from Sarajevo, where the deepest sufferance caused by war framed the last century” added.

The Card. Vinko Puljic stressed the significant wide cooperation among religions, the largest since the beginning of the last tragic war of ’92, underlined that “Even if the religions are non a political party neither a financial lobby they are not weak, they have the power of the prayer and the faith that, trough a sincere dialogue, can make the entire world more human.”

The picture of the Conference of today was more eloquent than the words: all the representatives of Christianity, Judaism and Islam – Croatians, Serbians and Bosnians – around the same table speaking and engaging their own Communities on building Peace.

The spirit of Assisi in Sarajevo started today.

In this framework the Bishop Irinej of Backa announced the extraordinary participation of His Holiness Irinej, Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the September Meeting: again an historical event.

The intervention of Emir Kovacevic, on behalf of HE Dr Mustafa Ceric, brought the full adhesion and the concrete cooperation of the Islamic Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina, while Elma Softic-Kaunitz expressed all the availability to work together for the great project of September on behalf of the Jewish Community.

The final words of Raimondo De Cardona, Italian Ambassador in Sarajevo, manifested the complete support of the Italian Government to the preparation of the initiative while underlined the European dimension of the event. The confirmation of the presence in the Meeting of the president of the Council of Europe, Mr.  Van Rompuy, is very expressive of this aspect.

Now we are more convinced that the September International Meeting “Sarajevo 2012” will really be the greatest conference of religious and political dialogue since the end of ’92 war.

For more detailed information:
Prof. Alberto Quattrucci
General Secretary of P&R
Community of Sant’Egidio
387.61.768167
[email protected]
[email protected]