This morning the Holy Father Francis received in audience in the Vatican the participants in the 19th High Level Meeting organized by the Foundation of the Nizami Ganjavi International Center (NGIC), taking place in Rome from 27 to 28 November 2019, on the theme: “Freedom from Violence: Peace, Security and Conflict Prevention in the agenda 2030 Development Agenda 2030”.

The following is the greeting addressed by the Pope to those present:

Greeting of the Holy Father

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I offer you a cordial welcome, and I thank you for your visit as the Nizami Ganjavi Foundation holds its meetings in Rome.

I am grateful for your commitment to address the principal challenges of our day in order to promote peace through dialogue and mutual respect, drawing inspiration from the great Persian poet of the twelfth century for whom your Foundation is named. You do this by placing at the service of the global community the values and experiences acquired in carrying out the important responsibilities you have held in your respective countries. In a particular way, I offer you my prayerful good wishes for the contribution you hope to make regarding the challenge of climate change.

I encourage you to continue these efforts in the conviction that a culture of dialogue is the path, mutual cooperation is the code of conduct and reciprocal understanding is the method to grow in fraternity among persons and peoples (cf. Document on Human Fraternity, Abu Dhabi, 4 February 2019).

Once more I thank all of you. May the Lord bless your work, your fellow citizens and the whole human family. Thank you very much.