Dialogue “unlocks” conflict

 
Thousands of young people across world wear white to highlight commitment to practise dialogue in hope that dialogue becomes norm in areas torn by conflict.
Elisabeth (Belfast) and CS Lewis join in with 'Dialogue to Unlock!'
Elisabeth (Belfast) and CS Lewis join in with ‘Dialogue to Unlock!’

August 15th 2014, thousands of people – young and old – from every corner and time zone of the world – were united by one symbol action, a piece of clothing – wearing a plain white t-shirt.

What is the power of a t-shirt, far beyond symbolic connections – “the t-shirt was like our signature” said Elizabeth from Belfast, “our commitment to practise dialogue where we are, in the hope that it is then practised in those places that are conflict stricken.”

The ask of the organisers – the Young People for a United World was for all men and women to: “follow this path to be promoters of dialogue in their daily lives.” In Belfast it was discussed against the backdrop of the recent trip some young people of the Focolare had to South America as part of the World Person Project.

Conleth – who updated the Belfast Community about his part in the trip to Argentina and Paraguay, on Thursday August 14th at the Focolare Centre said: “What was beautiful was that the Dialogue to unlock global challenge was the day after our update here – we immediately had the chance to – concretely – put the World Person into practice.”

Young people in O'Higgins, Argentina do 'Dialogue to Unlock'
Young people in O’Higgins, Argentina do ‘Dialogue to Unlock’

Maria- from Belfast – shared about talking to a friend in the Middle East to whom she asked:”What can we do for you – here in Ireland?” The answer was “to exercise tolerance and respect here – in your place, in the hope that one day it will spread to my place”.

The Israeli girl said: “Tolerance isn’t about finding a common piece of ground, that will never happen here [in the Middle East] it’s about standing beside a person and being completely tolerant to their ideologies and beliefs without the urge to change it.” It was the sharing of these experiences that showed that Dialogue ‘unlocks’!

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