The 46th meeting for friendship between peoples, scheduled in Rimini from today to 27 August, receives the blessing and encouragement of Pope Leo XIV. On behalf of the Pontiff, the Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin sent a message to Bishop Nicolò Anselmi, in which the Pope recalls the theme chosen for this edition – “in deserted places we will build with new bricks” – as I invite not to lose hope.
“The stone discarded by the manufacturers – he writes – has become corner stone, and those who believe in it will not be disappointed. Hope does not disappoint ».
The Pope underlines how the Bible often remembers that precisely in the desert, a place of deprivation and solitude, God manifests himself and makes his people grow. The prophets indicate it as a scenario of a new beginning, a place of love and loyalty: “The desert flourishes like a garden of hope”, recalls Leone XIV.
Martyrs of Algeria, a sign of dialogue
Among the contents of the meeting, the Pope particularly appreciated the exhibition dedicated to the Martyrs of Algeria. Their testimony – reads the message – expresses the vocation of the Church to overcome the suspicions and contrasts between cultures and religions, choosing the way of the simple presence, of the gift of self and the “dialogue of life”.
Peace as prophecy
The pontiff strongly recalls the responsibility of Christian communities and civil society in a world marked by wars and rubble. “We can no longer allow ourselves to resist the kingdom of God, which is a kingdom of peace”, warns, soliciting the construction of nonviolence, mediation and welcome paths. Each community – he adds – must become “a house of peace, where justice is practiced and forgiveness is kept”.
The poor, bricks of the future
The Pope reiterates Francesco’s teaching: “The option for the poor is a theological category before cultural or political”. Without the excluded, without the victims of history, “we will not have new bricks” to build the future. The risk, otherwise, is still chasing Babel’s dream, which excludes and divides.
A faith embodied in the present
The message warns by the idolatry of profit and the illusion of a disengaged faith: “a faith that is unrelated to the desertification of the world – writes Leone XIV – would no longer be sequence of Christ”. The digital revolution must also be inhabited with evangelical creativity, in order not to increase inequalities and conflicts.
Finally, the Pope entrusts the participants in the intercession of the Virgin Mary, morning star, so that he supports them in building a communion capable of making the future less dark: “If together we will obey the Holy Spirit – he concludes – the challenges of humanity will be less frightening and less difficult discernment”.
Here is the full text of the message
To his very reverend excellence
Msgr. Nicolò Anselmi
Bishop of Rimini
The theme of the 46th meeting for the friendship between the peoples, which will take place in Rimini in the next few days, is an invitation to hope: “In deserted places we will build with new bricks”. The Holy Father Leone XIV wishes to get his greeting to the organizers, to the volunteers and all the participants, with the wish to recognize in the joy that the stone discarded by the manufacturers was placed as a “corner stone, choice, precious, and those who believe in it will not be disappointed” (Cf1pt2,6). The hope, in fact, does not disappoint (Cfrm5.5).
Deserts are generally discarded places and deemed unsuitable for life. Yet, where it seems that nothing can be born, the Holy Scripture continuously returns to narrate the passages of God. In the desert, first of all, his people arises. It is in fact only on the way between its roughness that the choice of freedom matures. The biblical god-who observes, listen, knows the suffering of his children and goes down to free them (CFres3,7-8)-transforms the desert into a place of love and decisions, makes him bloom as a garden of hope. The prophets remember him as a scenario of an engagement, to which to return every time the heart warm, to start again from the loyalty of God (Cfros2,16). Munches and monks, for millennia, have lived the desert on behalf of all of us, representing the entire humanity, with the Lord of silence and life.
The Holy Father appreciated that one of the exhibitions characterizing Ilmeetingdi this year is dedicated to the testimony of the martyrs of Algeria. In them the vocation of the Church shines to live in the desert in deep communion with the whole of humanity, overcoming the walls of distrust that contrast religions and cultures, in the integral imitation of the incarnation movement and donation of the son of God. It is this way of presence and simplicity, of knowledge and “dialogue of life” the true path of the mission. Not a car-exhibition, in the opposition of identities, but the gift of self up to the martyrdom of those who love day and night, in joy and between the tribulations, Jesus only as a Lord.
There will be, as is customary, dialogues between Catholics of different sensitivity and with believers of other confessions and non -believers. There are important listening exercises, which prepare the “new bricks” with which to build that future that God already has in store for everyone, but it only discourages itself by welcoming us the other. We can no longer allow ourselves to resist the kingdom of God, who is a kingdom of peace. And where the managers of state and international institutions seem to be unable to make the right, mediation and dialogue, religious communities and civil society prevail the prophecy. It means letting yourself be pushed into the desert and seeing what can be born from the rubble and for a long time, too much innocent pain. Pope Leo XIV recommended to Italian bishops to “promote nonviolence education paths, mediation initiatives in local conflicts, reception projects that transform the fear of the other into an opportunity to meet”. And he still asks us: “Each community becomes a” house of peace “, where you learn to defuse hostility through dialogue, where justice is practiced and forgiveness is kept. Peace is not a spiritual utopia: it is a humble way, made of daily gestures, which intertwines patience and courage, listening and action. And who asks for today than ever, our vigilant and generative presence “(speech to the bishops of the Italian Episcopal Conference, 17 June 2025).
The Holy Father, therefore, encourages to give name and form to the new, because faith, hope and charity translate into a great cultural conversion. The beloved Pope Francis has taught us that “the option for the poor is a theological category before cultural, sociological, political or philosophical” (Evangelii Gaudium, 198). In fact, God chose the humble, the little ones, the without power and, from the womb of the Virgin Mary, one of them has made himself, to write his history in our history. Authentic realism is, then, what includes those who “have another point of view, sees aspects of reality that do not recognize themselves from the power centers where the most decisive decisions are made” (all brothers, 215). Without the victims of the story, without the hungry and the thirsty of justice, without the peace operators, without the widows and the orphans, without young people and the elderly, without migrants and refugees, without the cry of all the creation we will not have new bricks. We will continue to chase the delusional dream of Babel, deluding us that touching the sky and making a name is the only human way of living the earth (see11.1-9). From the beginning, however, denying the voices of others and renouncing understanding are bankruptcy and dehumanizing experiences. The patience of the meeting must be opposed to them with a mystery that is always more, of which the difference of each is a sign.
Disarmament and disarming, the presence of Christians in contemporary societies must translate the Gospel of the Kingdom with competence and imagination into alternative forms of development to the growth routes without equity and sustainability. To serve the living God, the idolatry of profit that has heavily compromised justice, freedom of encounter and exchange, everyone’s participation in the common good and finally peace must be abandoned. A faith that is unrelated to the desertification of the world or that, indirectly, contributes to tolerating it, would no longer be a sequence of Jesus Christ. The ongoing digital revolution risks accentuating discrimination and conflicts: it must therefore be inhabited with the creativity of those who, obeying the Holy Spirit, are no longer a slave, but son. Then the desert becomes a garden and the “city of God”, announced by the saints, transfigures our desolate places.
Pope Leone invokes the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, morning star, to support each commitment in communion with the shepherds and ecclesial communities in which it is inserted: «In synergy with all the other limbs of the body of Christ we will act, then, in harmonious harmony. The challenges that humanity has in front of them will be less frightening, the future will be less dark, the less difficult discernment. If together we will obey the Holy Spirit! ” (Homily in Pentecost Vigil with movements, associations and new communities, June 7, 2025).
While I also join those of the Holy Father my personal wishes from those of the Holy Father, I am worth the circumstance to confirm myself with senses of distinct respect.
