The Fourth Day of Fraternity

The Opera di Santa Croce, together with the Community of Minor Friars has promoted the Day of Fraternity for four years, drawing inspiration from the Document on human fraternity for world peace and living together (signed in Abu Dhabi in 2019 by Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Ahmad Al-Tayyeb) to deepen the theme of interreligious dialogue. As a key place of Franciscan spirituality, Santa Croce conserves some of the oldest iconographic testimonies of the epochal encounter between St. Francis and Sultan Al-Malik al-Kamil. The aim of this initiative is to celebrate the vocation for encounter between people, cultures and religions that has always distinguished the monumental complex.

The message that will be transmitted during this year’s edition is the importance of safeguarding and protecting the artistic and monumental heritages of the three Abrahamic religions in order to promote knowledge and respect for the religious beliefs of each individual. The IV Day of Fraternity therefore aims to deepen, in an inter confessional key from an artistic point of view and in the light of Italian and European legislation, the theme of custody of places of worship of monotheistic religions

The day will open at 9.30 am in the Refectory, with institutional greetings from Florentine religious and civil authorities. At 10 am the morning session will commence chaired by Carlo Francini, head of P.O. Florence World Heritage and relations with Unesco, speeches by Giulio Conticelli and Don Vittorio Ianari.
 
The morning will continue at 11.30 am centering around the theme "Visiting a Synagogue, a Christian Church and a Mosque"; Speeches by Dora Liscia Bemporad, Mons. Timothy Verdon and Shirin Ibis, followed by conclusions.  

The afternoon session will be chaired by Father Giancarlo Corsini, Rector of the Basilica of Santa Croce, and will begin at 2.30 pm centering on the theme "Places of Worship: construction, protection and promotion. Tensions and perspectives in the Italian legal system". Speeches by Andrea Bucelli, Renzo Funaro, Osama Rashid, Mariella Zoppi, Marco Croce and Andrea Longhi.  Conclusion at 5.30pm. 

The event is free admission subject to availability.