Beirut: The 47th edition of the Meeting for Friendship Among Peoples, known as the Rimini Meeting, opens Friday in the Italian city of Rimini and will run through August 26.
According to National News Agency - Lebanon, held annually since 1980 and organized by the Communion and Liberation movement, the event is one of Italy's leading cultural and dialogue forums. This year's edition is held under the theme, "The Love That Moves the Sun and the Other Stars," the closing verse of Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy.
A highlight of this year's program is the participation of Pope Leo XIV, who is expected to meet participants, including children, young people, families, and volunteers, tour the exhibition halls, and address an audience of around 10,000 people on Saturday. His speech will be broadcast live across the venue.
The program features more than 150 panel discussions with around 500 speakers from Italy and abroad, alongside cultural exhibitions, artistic performances, sports activities, and programs for youth and children.
The opening program includes a dialogue between two women who lost relatives in the 2016 terrorist attack on the Saint-‰tienne-du-Rouvray church in France and later chose reconciliation and dialogue over hatred.
Lebanon is represented by Ambassador to Rome Karla Jazzar and Maronite Bishop of Batroun Mounir Khairallah, while National News Agency Director Ziad Harfouche is attending the event.
The program also includes extensive interfaith dialogue, as well as discussions on politics, science, space, architecture, sports, media, and culture.