The President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, sent the following message to the President of the Meeting for Friendship Among Peoples Foundation, Bernhard Scholz:

"The Meeting, now in its 45th edition, once again offers its contribution of culture, dialogue, and humanity this year.

It is an event that has managed to question the foundational reasons of our society and continues to renew itself, engaging both young and old, seeking to grasp what lies deeper beyond the contingencies.

I extend my warmest greetings to all those who will participate, confident that the days in Rimini will prove to be a valuable enrichment for everyone. I also express my appreciation to the organizers and volunteers for their dedicated efforts.

The theme of this edition expresses the cultural roots of the Meeting by proposing an open perspective on the extraordinary transformations we are experiencing.

The aim is to seek the essential precisely when the global flow of information becomes a flood, when technoscience shows us solutions that were unimaginable until yesterday, and when the opportunities offered to individuals rekindle the fallacious allure of human omnipotence. Yet, in the face of so many new chances for humanity, we witness the horror, atrocities, and escalation of wars, the desire for domination, with a dramatic return to the past. Feelings of fear, distrust, sometimes indifference, and often resentment and hatred, are resurfacing.

This is why it is essential to put the person back at the center. The desire for life and fullness, in relation to the community. Because the essential does not lie in the isolated, self-sufficient "I," but in the encounter with the other, in the discovery of the truths that the other carries, and therefore in walking together, in the tomorrow that we must think about and build.

The educational and cultural commitment, of which the Meeting is a witness, is of great value."

Rome, 20/08/2024 (II mandato)