Italy
4 events: Germignaga, Milan, Potenza, Ragusa
Germignaga, Italy: report by Martina Bonetti
On the morning of May 14, in the district of Varese, we held a prayer walk along the River Margorabbia. A group of about 15 people shared prayers of peace and love for the waters of the planet, inspired and accompanied by our collective mandala of peace and love for oceans, seas, lakes, rivers, springs and waterfalls around the world. We shared peace prayers and read the Fuji Declaration together.
In the afternoon, 20 people met in the village of Germignaga, on Lake Maggiore, and around a peace pole we prayed together for peace in all nations of the world using flag cards, and sharing songs and peace poems.
Both parts of our event were full of grace, simple and deep. Everyone expressed gratitude and joy and a feeling of deep connection and union with all living beings, with the water, and with all the people in the world connecting with the prayers at Fuji Sanctuary.
Milan, Italy: report by Laura Ricchina
Our SOPP event in Milan took place on May 14. In Ticinello Park, we held a very special peace prayer ceremony with deaf young people, using sign language. Before this, at the public library where I work, we held a peace art workshop with children.
Potenza, Italy: report by Vito Palladino and Maria Caterina Putignano
The SOPP celebration on May 13 in Potenza, Italy, was a great success, involving more than 150 people—children, parents, cultural associations, and church members. Also present was the Italian government undersecretary for education, research and training for peace, Mr. Vito De Filippo, along with various religious leaders including Cardinal Gian Battista Re and the pastor of the cathedral, Don Antonio Savone.
The children participated with great excitement and enthusiasm, strongly expressing their prayers for peace in the nations of the world. They formed a great circle of peace with all the people present in the church. The teachers and schoolmaster of a local school have already requested to hold this event again in 2018, this time with the entire elementary and middle school.
The following day, eight participants gathered to connect with the ceremony at Fuji Sanctuary. We offered prayers or mantras from Buddhism, Hinduism, and various other faiths and traditions. We also performed a wordless prayer of gratitude to nature. Although we practice different spiritual paths, we joined together to celebrate our oneness and pray for the peace of humanity.
Ragusa, Italy: report by Sasha and Renato
On May 14, we held two SOPP-related meditation gatherings around our peace pole here at the Maunacenter, one in the morning and one in the evening. We prayed for the peace of the world, and especially for the United States, South Korea and North Korea, Venezuela and Syria. It was an intensive day, full of sun and love for the world!