On September 22-24, the Sant’Egidio Community held its annual International Meeting for Peace, entitled Imagine Peace, in Paris, France. The yearly conference is inspired by the 1986 Interfaith Meeting in Assisi, the city of St. Francis, organized by Pope John Paul II as a way to bring leaders of world religions together in their joint quest for peace. You can view the full conference program HERE.

The opening ceremony featured remarks by Emmanuel Macron, President of the Republic of France and the following panelists: Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris, Prof. Amine Maalouf, Permanent Secretary of the Académie Française; Chems-Eddine Hafiz, Rector of the Great Mosque of Paris; Lina Hassani, Witness from Afganistan; Haïm Korsia, Chief Rabbi of France; Prof. Andrea Riccardi, Historian and Founder of the Community of Sant’Egidio; Archbishop Laurent Ulrich, Archbishop of Paris; and Archbishop Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury and Primate of the Anglican Communion. The panel was moderated by Valérie Régnier of Sant’Egidio Community. The ceremony took place in Palais des Congrés and was attended by 3000 people.

Our President, Dr. Ivana Hughes, was invited by the Sant’Egidio Community to attend the meeting and serve as a panelist at the event “Remembering Hiroshima and Nagasaki: Imagining a World Without Nuclear Weapons” on September 23. This timely discussion was moderated by Dr. Andrea Bartolli, President of the Sant’Egidio Foundation for Peace and Dialogue, USA. Panelists included Dr. Emmanuel Dupuy, President of Institut Prospective et Sécurité Europe, France; Jean-Marie Collin, Director of ICAN France; Izumi Nakamitsu (via video link), UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs; Archbishop John Charles Wester, Archbishop of Santa Fe, New Mexico; Rev. Dr. Masahiro Nemot, Rissho Kosei-Kai, Japan; and Anna Ikeda, Program Coordinator for Disarmament, UN Office of the Soka Gakkai Internationa (SG). We invite you to watch Dr. Hughes’s remarks and view the photos from the event below.

Twenty other panels took place over a period of two days, covering topics from Democracy to the Test, Africa Today, to Religions in Dialogue for Peace. The closing ceremony was held outside of Notre-Dame and featured a message by Pope Francis, a moment of silence in remembrance of the victims of war, lighting of the Candelabras for Peace, and the Sign of Peace. You can learn more about the closing ceremony HERE.