Final Statement of the 45th Edition of the Rimini Meeting

Rimini, August 25, 2024. "This year's Meeting surprised us with the intensity of participation, the strength of testimonies, the depth of reflections, and the openness to the world," said Bernhard Scholz, president of the Rimini Meeting, about the 45th edition of the event.

Inspired by the theme "If we are not seeking the essential, then what are we seeking?" experiences and perspectives emerged to support passionate education for the good of young people, to promote a fair and sustainable economy, to encourage politics oriented toward the common good, and to use media and artificial intelligence appropriately.

Starting with the inaugural dialogue with the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, many meetings aimed to give voice to peace and reconciliation initiatives in Russia, Ukraine, Israel, Palestine, and Myanmar. Key topics included the future of democracy and interreligious dialogue. On the latter point, Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi, president of the Italian Episcopal Conference, and Muhammad Bin Abdul Karim Al-Issa, secretary-general of the Muslim World League, spoke.

The 16 exhibitions also attracted great interest this year, with more than 150,000 visitors, featuring artists like Curran Hatleberg and William Congdon, or showcasing different lives all dramatically marked by the search for the essential, such as those of Franziska and Franz Jägerstätter, Alcide De Gasperi, and the Modenese doctor Enzo Piccinini. Noteworthy was also the exhibition on the history of the Jubilees in anticipation of the Holy Year 2025.

The opening show on the journey to the Holy Land by French writer Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt and the concert by Iranian pianist Ramin Bahrami are just two examples among the 18 shows presented at this edition of the Meeting. Also noteworthy this year was the success of the Meeting Music Contest, with the participation of over 200 young musicians and bands.

As for the numbers, participants increased compared to the 2023 edition, with growth around 10 percent. The 140 conferences featuring 450 speakers, 100 of whom were from abroad, the 16 exhibitions, and the 18 shows almost consistently sold out, as did the Yoga Kids Village and the Sports Citadel, which saw the presence of tens of thousands of children and young people. The number of partner companies also increased, reaching 180, with involvement in discussions on the themes of the Meeting. Meanwhile, live broadcasts of 80 conferences (virtually all the main ones) were picked up nearly 300 times by major Italian media outlets, resulting in a significantly greater media impact than last year.

These numbers should motivate us to increasingly consider the Meeting as a place of encounter, dialogue, reconciliation, collaboration, and shared deepening for our country and the world, as Pope Francis reminded us in his message: "Aiming for the essential helps us take our lives into our own hands and make them instruments of love, mercy, and compassion, becoming signs of blessing for others."

The 46th edition of the Meeting will be held at the Rimini Fair from August 22 to 27, 2025, with the theme, drawn from the choruses of “The Rock” by Thomas Stearns Eliot:

In the deserted places, we will build with new bricks.