ROME-The German cities of Münster and Osnabrück are to jointly host the community of Sant’Egidio’s ‘'Paths of Peace'’ event between Sept. 10th and 12th. The Church public lay association and its conference have been described by the Community’s president Marco Impagliazzo as ‘'a chance to send the strong message to the world that more must be done against violence and for peace’'. The community’s annual meeting has witnessed a renewed interest in the past days, as the event prepares to tackle a number of issues including, but not limited to international terrorism.

 A number of influential speakers from the world of politics, such as German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the President of Niger Mahamadou Issoufou, will be attending. The 24 discussion panels, the topics ranging from '‘On the Roots of Terrorism’' to ‘'Economics and Social Justice’' to ‘'The Environmental Emergency'’, will include a number of senior clerical and religious figures, such as grand Imam Al-Azar Al-Tayyeb (highest Sunni clerical authority), the Greek Oriental Patriarch John X, and Cardinal Ernest Simoni of Albania.

 Despite addressing a host of wide-ranging issues, the conference will focus on the challenges presented by religious violence and religious fundamentalism. The coming together of such a large and diverse group of religious leaders shows how the Sant’Egidio’s Paths of Peace event attempts to prove its president’s belief that ‘'religions can be manipulated, but when directed towards dialogue they reinvigorate the soul of countries and continents in crisis’'.

 The conference will be the first major anti-terrorism event after the resurgence of international terrorism of the past few weeks, marked by the Catalonia and Burkina Faso attacks, and since then the number of people signing up to the event has soared, especially among the European youth- the Sant’Egidio’s Community reports