Final statement of the XXXIX Meeting for friendship among peoples

Rimini, Saturday August 25th – The 2018 Meeting in three brief statements. «What did I see in Rimini?» Alberto Campo Baeza Visiting the leading exponents of contemporary architecture said: «The Pope Francis exhibition made me so emotional and the same thing happened with the exhibitions dedicated to Brunelleschi and Job». «Being happy is being embraced» said the young Argentinian writer Veronica Cantero Burroni, during a testimony that left its reflection on this year’s Meeting. The last is the testimony of a young visitor. «The Meeting? For me it was absolute evil. Today, when I visited it, I realized how stupid I was for not coming the previous years. The Meeting is an experience that must be lived, of any thought, nationality, religion you are».

Three experiences apparently fragile and irrelevant: the emotion in the face of beauty, happiness as a hug, discovering oneself in the encounter with the other. The meeting from the very beginning focused on what really moves the story in a positive and permanent way, it focused on people. «We must pay attention not to oppose individual happiness to a bad and hostile world», explains the president of the meeting foundation Emilia Guarnieri, «but highlighting an impressive amount of experience of human fulfillment and social construction , in the favelas of Salvador de Bahia as in research on palliative care, in thinking about innovation beyond technology or in telling the story Leopardi’s Infinity with new eyes».

«There is no formula or algorithm that keeps», adds Giorgio Vittadini, president of the Foundation for Subsidiarity, «to counteract the decline we must focus on the person, give space to the story of those who become entrepreneurs of themselves in the search for work, fostering conversation between people of different religions, cultures and political orientation, same as the case with the Intergroup for Subsidiarity. Eight days of meetings show that all this is an experience that can be lived and is a real contribution to the life of the country, not utopia. It is no coincidence that this year’s edition was to present signs of restart after the tragedy of Genoa, through the presence of the president Toti, the mayor Bucci, the parliamentarians, but also the moment of an organic reflection on what happened, with the voices of the Port of Genoa, the terminal operators, RFI and with the conferences on the great works and the relationship between infrastructures and mobility».

Meeting 2018 opened with the message of Pope Francis and President Sergio Mattarella, who, each from their own perspective, explained the title of the event. Pope Francis in particular, emphasized on the assonance with the experience of St. Benedict of Norcia: «While new people were crossing the borders of the ancient Empire», he wrote to us, «a young man echoed the voice of the Psalmist». Who is the “man who wants life and wants to see happy days”? President Mattarella spoke about the need for peace and friendship proper to the Meeting: «It is from the awareness that everyone, with his beliefs and convictions, enriches our being a person», wrote the Head of State, «from That is born the possibility of making the world truly human» .

The “A note” was then played by the inaugural intervention of the nuncio in the USA Christophe Pierre, when he recalled that «The real revolution is the revolution of the heart. We cannot force anyone to believe, especially not the young people, because faith is a new life that is communicated by grace, and therefore it can happen only through the testimony of our lives». It was also the Meeting of Job, the man who does not want to escape the dramatic questions of life, a great exhibition and meeting was dedicated to him.

As total agreement with the spirit of the meeting, “Through the sea of desire” was performed, on Sunday August 19th in the Piazzetta on the water at the Ponte di Tiberio. «A show that binds the fate of the two people and the forces that move the world», says the head of the performances of the Otello Cenci Meeting. «The script, taken from Paul Claudel on the occasion of his 150th birthday and a new translation was represented for the first time in Italy, further enhancing the relationship with Rimini through the spectacular location of the Tiberius Bridge that attracted five thousand people».

As for the figures, the XXXIX edition shows that the Meeting, in a new formula that has focused on the areas and spaces, is also consolidated in the numbers. The number of the people participating in this year’s meeting was 5% higher than the last year (based on the number of the receipts from the restaurant). The fundraising reaches a new record with 120 thousand euros of fundraising (100 thousand last year) and of course the 234 meetings (almost doubled number of last year) with 528 speakers (327 in the last edition), the 14 exhibitions, the 18 shows, the 32 sporting events. All in 130 thousand square meters of Fair (21 thousand dedicated to catering), with the contribution of 2,927 volunteers, the true heart of the kermesse that shows gratuity. As for the cost section, the 2018 Meeting, which receives very little public contributions, has a budget of 5 million 972 thousand euros, the main revenue is the communication services for companies (3 million 550 thousand euros) and the revenues from the catering (1 million 104 thousand ). Therefore, living many years of travail of the country and accompanying it foe many rears through the evolution , the meeting is about to close the fourth decade of its history. The title shown at the Fiera of Rimini from the 18th to the 24th will be

“Your name was born from what you were staring at”

«It’s a line from a poem by Karol Wojtyla», explains Emilia Guarnieri. «And so in 2019 we will have a title in full continuity with the contents of this year. If in 2018 we focused on the person and we put a person on the spotlight, next year we will go even further to the bottom to find out where the face, the physiognomy of the person can be born».