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From the eve of 9/11 to the opening of Sagrada Familia

Prayer for PeaceDialogueEcumenismBarcelonaSpirit of Assisi

Religious leaders gathered every year by the Community of Sant'Egidio were ten years ago in Barcelona, a few days before September 11. The attack on the twin towers made the world believe that the efforts to create dialogue among religions were vain. But the collapse of the towers did not collapse their perseverance, and at the end of a decade of conflicts religions come back to Barcelona. "We believe - said the president of Sant'Egidio, Marco Impagliazzo - that praying and working for peace has brought great fruits. Just think of the peace in Ivory Coast, the efforts of these days in Guinea Conakry, or of the 90 thousand people in Africa that now have access to health care as in any Western country."

More than 350 representatives of world religions will be present in the Catalan city, and the cardinal of Barcelona, Lluis Martinez Sistach, referred to this event as a gathering of a family of peoples, which is the family of God, the theme of the message of Benedict XVI. This meeting, according to the cardinal, is "deeply connected" with the Pope's visit who will come in early November to open the Sagrada Familia, as to indicate the path of a new partnership and solidarity for the next decade.