The countdown has ended and Genfest 2012 has begun!

Following a year of hard work and great expectation, Genfest 2012 has finally begun in Budapest! There is a festive atmosphere on the streets of the Hungarian capital among friends who are finally meeting one another not on the world wide web, but in person.

On the morning of 31 August an international delegation of young people was welcomed by the Hungarian Parliament together with president of the Focolare Movement, Maria Voce. The Minister of External Affairs, Martonyi Janos, delivered a welcoming address in which he underscored that: “The challenges are global and the answers are universal and linked to universal values.” Then he added: “We must respond to the culture of hatred with the culture of love.” Then he thanked the youths from Young People for Unity “who have brought such extraordinary projects here. Through their love we discover ours.” 

Yesterday afternoon there was the inauguration of Fraternity Corner in one of the public parks of the capital, which the youths had planned and brought about with the collaboration of Budapest’s City Hall. “We would like to give hope to our city,” says Rita, a twenty-five year old Hungarian. And they did it in the presence of the civil authorities and a colourful crowd of several hundred  young people who attended the inauguration.

Gergo Jedliscita, an architect, is thirty years old. He is the one who had designed the corner, which is located in the very heart of Budapest’s young nightlife. It has five rectangular marble blocks of different sizes, which stand on a platform in one of the corners of the park. The blocks represent the five continents. On the faces of stone is chiseled the Golden Rule – Do unto others as you would have them do unto you – written in the major languages of the world, also in Braille. It is meant to be a tangible sign of Genfest 2012’s message to the world.

The day concluded with a performance of the Streetlight Musical by Gen Rosso, before an audience of more than 4,000 people. On stage with the artists there were also 120 Hungarian teenagers who had attended a two-day workshop with the music group. 

A hundred and four nations from five continents were represented including a group of 250 young people from the Middle East. There were many Christians from different Churches and around 100 from other religions together with a constant presence of youths with no religious affiliation.

We thank our sponsors