The role interreligious and inter-cultural dialogue can play in building peaceful and inclusive societies will be the focus of a conference being held in Rome this week, the foreign ministry stated on Monday.
Italy's foreign minister Angelino Alfano will open the meeting at the foreign ministry on Thursday entitled 'Dialogue between cultures and religions in the promotion of peace: 800 years of Franciscan presence in the Holy Land', the ministry said.
Besides Alfano, Salvatore Martinez, president of the Observatory on Religious Minorities in the World and Respect for Religious Freedom, will attend Thursday's conference, the ministry stated.
Speakers at the event include Father Francesco Patton, Custos of the Holy Land, Hassan Abouyoub, Morocco's ambassador to Italy, Ofer Sachs, Israel's ambassador to Italy, and Anton Salman, mayor of Bethlehem, the ministry noted.
Alfano will present the conclusions of the meeting which will be open to media, according to the ministry.
The event comes amid heightened tensions in the Middle East after United States president Donald Trump abruptly reversed decades of US policy this month when he recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, sparking anger from Palestinians and the Arab world and concern among Washington’s western allies.
