Similar meetings had taken place in other parts of Italy and throughout the world, and it was the first time for the city of Udine (in north-eastern Italy), event also highlighted in the local newspapers: at the Balducci Cultural Centre on Sunday 19 October, 150 members of the Focolari and Muslims participated in an afternoon encounter, dialogue and prayer and – why not – a get-together. During the prayer session, the Muslims went to another room to pray according to their customs.  First the Imam had recited a prayer in Arabic, and then the Catholic priest said the “Our Father,” with the absolute respect and silence of all those present.

Two not-so-distant worlds, besides sharing the “golden rule” common to all the great religions, “Do not do to others what you do not want others to do to you”, «Christians and Muslims believe in an only God – underlined one of the leaders of the Movement, Franco Vasta – both are sons of Abraham, and have an impartial love for their brothers and outstanding sense of family.»

“Muslims and Christians have a lot in common – Mercy and solidarity,” confirmed the President of the Association  and head of the Udine Islamic Center, Errachidi Abderrazak, “And it is important that they unite forces. Let us think of the youth, and try to reach them to transmit to them the values of our common efforts, to help them avoid the wrong paths. The youth are our main mission.  We need to work together also for this.”

The friendship between the Focolari and the Muslim community was established in Triest, thanks to Imam Abdel Aziz El Barikhi, and also set roots in Udine. In the afternoon, all watched the film of the speech of Focolare Movement’s foundress, Chiara Lubich, in the Mosque of Malcom Shabazz at Harlem, New York in 1997, considered the starting point of this dialogue, and was followed by the sharing of experiences, testimonials, prayer and music, uniting Christians and Muslims in one voice also in a delicate phase like the current one: “The media is giving out wrong signals, accompanying images of ISIS with images of mosques, for example,” affirmed Fr Pierluigi Di Piazza of the Balducci Centre, “It is very wrong to draw this parallel since it creates the risk of people using religion to justify violence.”

The decision to join forces, however, is strong in Udine, so much so that Abderrazak declared to the media, that “Should an Italian enter our mosque, we would welcome him. Mosques should not create fear.  It is a place of education. It teaches us how to do good to others. It educates the youth to take the righteous path, which is not the path of harshness and intransigence.”

This meeting which deeply involved the participants, will not end here: to a journalist who asked if other meetings will be held, Abderrazak replied, “Certainly. These are meetings that open out to dialogue, help us to get to know each other. I admit that the path is not easy. But it is worthwhile to pursue, since knowledge and integration cancels fear.”