VATICAN CITY - From 27 to 29 August, an international meeting of the youth movement associated with the Sant'Egidio Community will take place. About 1,000 participants from 13 European countries, including hundreds from Ukraine, are expected to come together to renew "the commitment to confront all forms of violence and racism".
Global friendship for a peaceful future" - it is with this dream in mind that around 1,000 girls and boys, university and high school students, will gather in Berlin from 27 to 29 August for the international "Youth for Peace" meeting. Thirteen will be the countries of origin of the participants in this major European event at a time marked by wars that seem to have no end, such as in Gaza and Ukraine.
One hundred young people from Ukraine
"Youth for Peace", says the communiqué announcing the event, "is a movement linked to the Sant'Egidio community, which engages daily in the suburbs with children in distress, the homeless, lonely elderly and, during the summer months, has supported solidarity holidays with refugees in camps in Greece and Cyprus." From the Ukraine, where Sant'Egidio continues to support the population by distributing food and medical supplies and running educational centres for children and young people - also thanks to the support of many refugees who have joined the community - around 100 young people from Kiev, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk and Kharkiv will come to the German capital.
Commitment against violence and racism
During the three-day meeting, participants will, as the presentation communiqué goes on to say, "express the hopes of their generation and discuss various topics - ecology, migration, poverty - with the aim of spreading a culture of peace and solidarity in the city where the wall fell 35 years ago", thus representing "a great sign of hope for the future". A rally with Marco Impagliazzo, leader of the Sant'Egidio community, is also planned for the morning of 28 August, entitled "In friendship there is victory", while in the afternoon young people will remember the victims of National Socialism among the Sinti and Roma at the Brandenburg Gate to "renew their commitment to speak out against all forms of violence and racism".
vaticannews.va / gnews.cz-roz_07
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