A colored river of peace has now crossed the streets of the San Paolo district, in Messina, on the occasion of a march organized by the Community of Sant’Egidio, in collaboration with the Comprehensive Institute “La Pira – Gentiluomo” led by Professor Luisa Lo Manto, and with the parish of San Paolo Apostolo, represented by the parish priest Father Nino Basile.
The initiative, which took place within the celebrations for the conclusion of the educational year, saw the pupils of the educational institution protagonists, who with billboards and banners paraded along via Gerobino Pilli, bringing a clear message: building peace is possible, and it is everyone’s responsibility.
To make the meaning of the day even stronger was the testimony of Abie, a young refugee from South Sudan, who passed for Kenya and today a student of the Faculty of Economics of the University of Messina thanks to the program of university corridors. His words offered a direct story of what it means to escape from the war and find, elsewhere, a possibility of the future.
During the march, the signs with the names of the countries still involved in armed conflicts have reminded everyone that peace is not obvious, but must be kept and cultivated day after day. And the memory of the peoples in war has strengthened, at the end of the procession, the desire of the participants to make his voice heard.
A message that starts from a periphery often associated with difficult chronicles, but which today has made themselves a spokesperson for hope: San Paolo wants to demonstrate that a strong appeal for a world without wars and without violence can also rise from the margins of the city.