Stories - 2012

Palestine Gaza Strip. CC0 Creative Commons

The Cross in Gaza

WorldAndrea Avveduto

For the Christians in the Strip between Hamas’s rockets and the Israeli offensive, Christmas means coming to terms with the reasons of faith. George, Johnny, Hanna and Diana live with a continual question: “Why?” and the certainty that “God is working.”

The 2012 Rimini Meeting. Via Meeting Rimini Flickr

An American Experience

US, UK and MoreJonathan Ghaly

A first-timer in Rimini tells of his week’s journey, through the surprised eyes of “a baby just born.” The days inside (and outside) the conference center tell the story of an “explosion” never known before.

Tat'jana Kasatkina. Via Flickr

The Open Sky

WorldSuzanne Tanzi

Meeting week in Rimini will kick off on August 19. These pages contain a preview, as well as a dialogue with Tat'jana Kasatkina, one of the leading Dostoevsky scholars and protagonists of the gathering.

Paolo Carozza. Photo by Maria Ramos

What is really at stake?

EncountersSuzanne Tanzi

The recent HHS mandate has given rise to questioning the U.S. government’s jurisdiction in the realm of freedom and tolerance. Paolo Carozza carries the discussion toward a deeper understanding of the common good, education and true charity.

(L-R) Michelle Obama, Barrack Obama, Pope Benedict XVI. Flickr

What is Really at Stake

US, UK and MoreSuzanne Tanzi

Paolo Carozza discusses a deeper understanding of the common good, education, and true charity. “The most fundamental aspect of human freedom is the freedom to seek and adhere to the meaning of things.”

Calpulli Mexican Dance Company at the New York Encounter. Photo by Nick Erickson

Meet Me in Manhattan

US, UK and MoreSanti Ramos

Faith is put to the test with debates and art, politics and science at the two-day festival on the American stage. A place where “no encounter is taken for granted” among volunteers, attendees and speakers who are still in search.

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin. Photo by David Galalis

Horizons of Renewal

EncountersSuzanne Tanzi

Entrusted with the faithful of Ireland during trying times, Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin–speaker at this year’s NY Encounter–assesses the situation, sharing his hope in the life and history of the Church.

Ciudad de Asunción, Paraguay. Photo by FF MM via Wikimedia Commons

Violeta's Question

WorldAlessandra Stoppa

The missionary life of a few has borne fruit in an explosion of growth for a small people in the land of the Guaraní. As the country celebrates the bicentennial of its independence, a story of friendship is being renewed.