Rimini Meeting Explained
Meeting for Friendship Amongst Peoples |
Native Name: | Meeting per l'amicizia fra i popoli |
Native Name Lang: | it |
Status: | Active |
Genre: | Religious festival |
Venue: | Rimini Fiera |
Location: | Rimini |
Country: | Italy |
Frequency: | Annually |
Attendance: | 800,000 (2022) 80,000 in-person 720,000 online |
Organizer: | Communion and Liberation |
The Meeting for Friendship Amongst Peoples (Italian:), more commonly known as the Rimini Meeting (Italian:), is an annual lay Catholic festival held every year in Rimini, Italy, in the last week of August.
Inaugurated in 1980, the Meeting is the flagship event of Communion and Liberation, an international association of the faithful.[1] [2] It is a significant event in domestic politics, attracting high-profile guest speakers, and receives notable coverage in the Italian press.[3] [4]
Overview
The Rimini Meeting is held annually in the last week of August at Rimini Fiera. The weeklong festival includes talks, debates, workshops, exhibitions, sporting, musical and literary events, and other sessions.[5] [6] Each edition revolves around a theme that is chosen to inspire open reflection and dialogue.[7]
In 2022, the Rimini Meeting attracted 80,000 visitors, with a further 720,000 online attendees.[8]
Venue and organisation
The first edition of the Rimini Meeting took place in 1980, at the site of the old Rimini Fiera. The Meeting moved to the new Rimini Fiera after its completion in 2001.[9]
In March 2008, the Meeting for Friendship Amongst Peoples Association, which was constituted in December 1980 to organise the Meeting,[10] became a foundation.[11] Over 3,000 volunteers work during the Meeting to stage, operate, and dismantle it.[12]
Political and cultural significance
The Rimini Meeting is a significant event in Italian culture and politics, often attracting high-profile guest speakers and notable press coverage. Previous speakers include Pope John Paul II,[13] Mario Draghi,[14] Staffan de Mistura,[15] and Tony Blair.[16]
The 2022 Meeting included an early debate in the run-up to the 2022 general election and was attended by figures from major political parties: Giorgia Meloni, Matteo Salvini, Enrico Letta, Ettore Rosato, Antonio Tajani, and Carlo Calenda.[17] Ten ministers of the Meloni government attended the 2023 edition, including Salvini, Tajani, and Giancarlo Giorgetti. The President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, spoke on the final day of the Meeting.
In previous years, national television channels, including the public broadcaster RAI, have broadcast some sessions of the Rimini Meeting,[18] including the Sunday Mass on Rai 1, RAI's flagship television channel.
Fraud investigation
In December 2012, the public prosecutor's office in Rimini charged the general manager, lead administrator and an account of the Meeting for Friendship Amongst Peoples Foundation with fraud,[19] [20] and seized one million euros from the foundation. An investigation by the Guardia di Finanza found that the foundation had presented false loss-making balance sheets to obtain 310,000 euros of public funding for the 2009 and 2010 editions of the Rimini Meeting:[21] such funds can only be disbursed to organisations not making profits. The public agencies involved included Emilia-Romagna's regional council, Rimini's tourist marketing agency, the local Chamber of Commerce, and the Ministry of Culture. The group was acquitted in March 2016.
External links
Notes and References
- Web site: Che cos'è il Meeting . What is the Meeting? . 7 June 2023 . Meeting di Rimini . it-IT.
- Web site: Mayaki SJ . Benedict . 19 August 2022 . Pope to Rimini meeting: Spread in the world a passion for the person . 7 June 2023 . . en.
- Web site: Maria De Luca . Davide . 19 August 2012 . Che cos'è Comunione e Liberazione . What is Communion and Liberation? . 24 June 2023 . Il Post . it-IT.
- Web site: Olivari . Stefano . 24 August 2022 . Perché tutti vanno al Meeting di Rimini . Why everyone goes to the Riimini Meeting . 24 June 2023 . Indiscreto . it-IT.
- Web site: 17 August 2015 . Dal 20 al 26 agosto a Rimini la 36° edizione del Meeting . From 20 to 26 August in Rimini the 36th edition of the Meeting . 24 June 2023 . riminiturismo.it . it.
- Web site: Zavagli . Stefano . 21 August 2023 . Rimini capitale della politica, al Meeting attesi 10 ministri del governo Meloni. In campo 3.000 volontari . Rimini, capital of politics: Ten ministers of Meloni's government are expected at the Meeting. 3,000 volunteers are in the field. . 23 October 2023 . RiminiToday . it.
- Web site: Meeting for friendship among peoples: 44th edition . 24 June 2023 . riminiturismo.it . en.
- Web site: Guiducci . Paolo . 26 August 2022 . Rimini. Al Meeting tornano i numeri record. Nel 2023 al centro un'amicizia inesauribile . Record numbers return to the Meeting in Rimini: in 2023, an inexhaustible friendship is at the centre . 9 June 2023 . . it.
- Web site: 30 January 2023 . 31 gennaio 1991 - Si apre a Rimini il XX e ultimo congresso del Pci . 31 January 1991: The twentieth and last congress of the PCI opens in Rimini . 8 June 2023 . Chiamami Città . it-IT.
- Web site: The Foundation . 24 June 2023 . Meeting di Rimini . en-US.
- Web site: Articles of Foundation . 24 June 2023 . Meeting di Rimini . en-US.
- Web site: Paolucci . Giorgio . 12 August 2021 . «Il nostro segreto è la gratuità» . "Our secret is in the freeness" . 24 June 2023 . Famiglia Cristiana.
- Web site: Pope John Paul II . Pope John Paul II . 29 August 1982 . Build the Civilization of Truth and Love . 9 June 2023 . . EN.
- Web site: Guiducci . Paolo . 26 August 2022 . Rimini. Al Meeting tornano i numeri record. Nel 2023 al centro un'amicizia inesauribile . Record numbers return to the Meeting in Rimini: in 2023, an inexhaustible friendship is at the centre . 9 June 2023 . . it.
- Web site: Torinelli . Andrea . 4 September 2016 . The saint who treated President Reagan 'like a school boy' . 24 June 2023 . La Stampa.
- Web site: Invereigh . Austen . Austen Ivereigh . 29 August 2009 . Tony Blair in Rimini talks language of Benedict XVI . 9 June 2023 . . en.
- Web site: 23 August 2022 . Meeting Rimini: sfilano leader politici, popolo di Cl tifa Meloni . Meeting Rimini: Political leaders parade and the CL crowd supports Meloni . 9 June 2023 . Libero Quotidiano . it.
- Web site: Graziano Flore . Raffaele . 22 August 2022 . Programma Meeting Rimini 2022 oggi 22 agosto/ Incontri, ospiti e video streaming . Rimini 2022 Meeting Program today, 22 August: Meetings, guests and video streaming . 25 June 2023 . IlSussidiario.net . it.
- Web site: Dirani . Deborah . 11 December 2012 . Meeting dell'amicizia di Rimini, indagati per truffa tre dirigenti. La Fondazione: l'ipotesi di reato per noi è infondata . Friendship Meeting in Rimini: Three managers under investigation for fraud. The Foundation: the alleged crime is unfounded for us. . 25 June 2023 . . it.
- Web site: 22 March 2016 . Meeting Rimini, tutti assolti al processo: nessun indebita appropriazione di fondi pubblici . Rimini Meeting. All acquitted in the trial: No misappropriation of public funds. . 25 June 2023 . altarimini.it . it-IT.
- Web site: 5 January 2013 . Procura dissequestra palazzina Meeting . Prosecutor releases the Meeting building from seizure . 25 June 2023 . Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata.