![\"20141120-01\"](\"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/20141120-01.jpg\")
Kheit Abdelhafid couldn’t find the words to bring the event to a conclusion<\/strong>: “Believe me, I’m speechless, I can’t find the words to bring this beautiful day to a conclusion. Last year, before the meeting on the topic of the family, we wondered if we would be capable to conduct a meeting together. And now that we’re concluding this second meeting, I realise that we are more than able and this day has demonstrated that. When I see our children together I know the future will be better than what we see now in the world.”<\/p>\nNiether was it easy for the Imam<\/strong>, who is very accustomed to large crowds, to find the words to conclude the second meeting promoted by the Focolare Movement and the Islamic Community of Sicily<\/strong>, on November 16th in Catania (Italy<\/a>), titled A Culture of Gift and the Common Good<\/em>. 450 people from several east Sicilian cities filled the meeting hall with an odd-sounding interweaving of languages and dialects.<\/p>\n A great contribution<\/strong> was given by the speakers at the round-table discussion that was moderated by the director of Citta Nuova<\/a>, Michele Zanzucchi. Msgr Gaetano Zito<\/strong>, Episcopal Vicar for Culture in the Diocese of Catania, underscored the importance of a culture of friendliness and being together. Samia Chouchane<\/strong>, delegate at the interreligious dialogue of the Union of Islamic Communities<\/a> in Italy (UCOII), highlighted the motivation behind everything: “Motivations are at the heart of everything: Imagine, then, if the motivation is love for God. And this leads us not to be indifferent to what happens in the world right beside us.”<\/p>\n![\"20141120-03\"](\"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/20141120-03.jpg\")
Kamel Layachi from the Scientific Committee of the Interreligious Dialogue Department of the UCOII<\/strong> challenged both communities to not only to interreligious dialogue, but also intrarreligious dialogue, in order to launch a reflection also within each of their individual religious experiences. Margareth Karram<\/strong> from the Focolare Movement in the Holy Land shared her personal experience as a Christian Palestinian who had been raised in a predominantly Jewish environment. She was literally born and grew in a world of dialogue, although it was often wearying and marked by setbacks. Nonetheless, it is always important to know one another, to know our differences, history and culture: “We need to know one another deeply, friendship isn’t enough, a deeper knowledge is necessary. It’s our ignorance of each other that produces the fear.” Giusy Brogna<\/strong> who is in charge of interreligious dialogue on behalf of the Focolare in Sicily expressed great satisfaction with the meeting: “That journey we began several years ago is bearing fruit. I am quite hopeful certain that both communities – that of the focolarini and that of the Muslims – will bring dialogue ahead not only in Catania but in other Sicilian cities as well.”<\/p>\n