RIMINI, Italy, JULY 22, 2009 (Zenit.org).- The Communion and Liberation movement is focusing on knowledge and faith at its annual meeting this year, in which former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and former Florida governor Jeb Bush are among the speakers.
The Meeting for Friendship Among the Peoples, known as the Rimini Meeting, is marking its 29th anniversary this year and will be held Aug. 23-29.
In addition to Bush and Blair, other prominent guests will include Cardinal Antonio María Rouco Varela, archbishop of Madrid; John Milbank of the University of Nottingham; and Rémi Brague of the Sorbonne.
Part of the focus for the meeting will be Africa and Latin America. In this regard, the bishop of Petropolis, Brazil, will speak, as will the president of the Cuban episcopal conference, and the bishop of Rumbek, Sudan. Additionally, African political leaders including the presidents of Kenya and Sierra Leone will present.
The Rimini meting has become larger and larger over the years. Last year alone, 850 journalists were accredited to cover the event and it averages the participation of some 700,000 people.
A statement from the organizers explained that the Rimini meeting «is a unique event of its kind: an initiative that for 29 years now has aimed to create an occasion for the encounter of experiences and people of diverse cultures and beliefs, but who have in common a desire to learn and mutual esteem.»
Pope John Paul II once visited the meeting, as did then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Mother Teresa of Calcutta and the Dalai Lama.
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On the Net:
Information on the Rimini Meeting: www.meetingrimini.org/default.asp?id=826
