There, Christians and non-Christians alike played a lead role in meeting a crucial challenge: to respond to the highly-organized crime syndicates in this part of the world through efforts to promote a culture of dialogue and the defense of human rights rooted in the great multireligious and multicultural traditions characteristic of Sicily.
The high point of the two-day event was the gathering on 30 March in the piazza of the Palermo Cathedral. The program included testimonies, pictures, music, songs and dances emphasizing the commitment of ordinary citizens to fostering not only dialogue but also law and order. A new feature of the Courtyard, launched during the Palermo stopover, was the “Children’s Courtyard,” held on 30 March in the FSP book center. There, hundreds of pictures sent in by children from all over the island were on display–an extension and enrichment of the 30-meter-long picture also drawn by children and displayed in the Cathedral piazza.
In addition to the Children’s Courtyard, the FSP book center offered visitors the chance to participate in the communications process through live TV and radio broadcasts.