ROME - This year’s International Meeting of Prayer for Peace will take place in Tirana.

On Tuesday it was announced that the twenty-eighth annual international, interreligious gathering will be held in the capital of Albania, Tirana, between 6th and 8th September. This year’s event is entitled La pace è sempre possibile (which can be translated as both ‘peace is always possible’ and ‘peace is still possible’), a poignant message given the country’s history.

The event began in 1986 when the Community of Sant’Egidio (Saint Giles, in English) organised the World Day of Prayer for Peace at Assisi. There, on 26th Oct, Pope John Paul II proclaimed: “Let’s keep spreading the message of Peace and living the spirit of Assisi.” Since then, the meeting has been organised on a yearly basis, and has taken place in various European and Mediterraneancities. The Community aims to encourage an international, inter-religious dialogue, and to promote mutual understanding between religions.

The event will involve four hundred religious leaders from sixty countries. Attendees will include Erion Veliaj, Albanian Minister for Social Welfare and Youth, in addition to representatives from the country’s Muslim community, the Bektashi Order, the Orthodox Church and Catholic Church.

President of the Community Marco Impagliazzo has commended the choice of Albania as this year’s host, pointing out that it has been the homeland of numerous martyrs of different religions. Similarly, Pope Francis praised the country during his visit in September, saying that it is a prime example of the way in which different religions can live side by side in harmony.