The Courtyard of Francis, from 23 to 27 September in Assisi

Vatican City, 14 September 2015 (VIS) – From 23 to 27 September the Italian city of Assisi will be the seat of the “Courtyard of Francis”, a place of encounter and dialogue, that will welcome political and institutional figures, artists and intellectuals, and all other men and women who wish to listen and to participate.

The initiative, which develops from the “Courtyard of the Gentiles” organised by the Pontifical Council for Culture some years ago, proposes, in the birthplace of the saint who “was not afraid to speak with the Sultan of Egypt, to embrace a leper, to involve all of creation in a choral chant”, to delve into the deepest identity of people, “way beyond differences of faith, ideas, behaviour and political and social alliances”, as Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi explained today in a press conference held in the Holy See Press Office.

The other speakers at the Conference were the sociologist Zygmunt Bauman, the director of the Museum of Bardo Moncef Ben Moussa, the architect Santiago Calatrava and the philosopher Massimo Cacciari.