From 19 to 23 February the city of Bari had welcomed the bishops from countries that are in the Mediterranean basin,
gathered for the first time for a meeting of reflection and spirituality on the theme of peace. Even at «Margherita»
we let ourselves to be challenged by this event and we were stimulated so that our students may come to know of it
and be able to open themselves to the problems and to the hopes that it presents to us. Thus we prepared,
with the participation of every class of the school from the nursery to the high school, ‘our’ Mediterranean basin,
made of paper and blue paint which filled the main corridors of the Institute. The children added on to it
their messages of peace, born from the reflection done together and from listening to some testimonies:
a member of «St Egidio» community, some representatives of the fondazione «Migrantes» and
three young migrants who have shared their experiences of being welcomed. All this was disseminated primarily
by the children themselves, who while going out of the school showed proudly to their moms and dads
their message of peace, written on a fish, on a boat or an octopus, and through the social media as well,
with the participation of the parents who amplified it through the sounding board so as to increase
the waves of awareness and involvement as much as possible.
Moreover, some sisters have participated in the Holy Mass presided over by card. Leonardo Sandri in our vicariate,
in the Marian prayer with all the bishops on Saturday 22 February and, with some of the university girls,
in the Holy Mass celebrated by pope Francis in the Libertà square at the conclusion of the meeting.
We wish that this initiative might be for each one a true experience of ‘frontier’,
understood as the starting point for an outlook and a heart that is always open towards the horizons of encounter
and personal commitment, for dialogue and peace.
