Europe, Cultures in Dialogue

The Churches of Gorizia and Nova Gorica's initiative for the European Capital of Culture – Go! 2025 – continues.

The series, which began last March with a meeting-conference held by Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, Prefect of the Holy See's Dicastery for Culture and Education, with high school students from Gorizia, now continues with a series of conferences entitled "Europe, Cultures in Dialogue.

Overcoming Borders to Be the Capital of a European Culture”, created in collaboration with the diocesan weekly Voce Isontina, I Visionari – Comunità di Impegno pubblico and Città dell'Uomo Aps.

The series of conferences will open with Paolo Mieli, journalist and essayist, former editor of Corriere della Sera, on June 10th at the Kulturni Center Lojze Bratuž on Viale XX Settembre at 6:00 PM. Together, we will discuss what future holds for Europe: will we understand it as its founders intended, or will sovereignism prevail?

Following this, on July 4th, at Piazza San Rocco, Roberto Antonione, former president of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region, will be a guest in Gorizia. During his tenure, he worked tirelessly to foster the region's ever-increasing openness to Europe.

Together, we will discuss the role of the Special Statute Regions within Europe, as well as what Friuli Venezia Giulia, through its experience, can tell Europe. The program will continue with the participation of two former Prime Ministers of the Italian Republic: Paolo Gentiloni on September 29 (venue to be determined) and Enrico Letta on October 27 at the Kulturni dom on Via Brass.

With them, it will be possible to reflect on the future of the European Union, but also on how European culture and economics go hand in hand, on how the euro has influenced habits and society over the past 20 years, and on the prospects presented by the imposition of new tariffs by the United States. These two meetings will involve students from Gorizia's high schools: they are the present and future of the European Union.

Also scheduled for early November is a meeting with Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, a profound expert on Europe who, thanks to his Filipino and Chinese origins, will provide a global perspective.

"My wish, as I have previously announced, is that Go! 2025 will be not only for Nova Gorica and Gorizia to be the "European Capital of Culture" but also the "European Capital of Culture," said Archbishop Carlo Roberto Maria Redaelli, "underlining and emphasizing the shared values that define us and that have enabled us to transcend borders, values that have ensured that today there are no divisions. The idea behind these meetings is therefore precisely to offer opportunities to reflect on values we believe are important."

The "Europe, Cultures in Dialogue. Overcoming Borders to Become the Capital of a European Culture" events are all free, subject to availability, and Slovenian translation will be provided wherever possible.

The festival's calendar remains open: several additional events are currently being planned, including those involving figures from neighboring Slovenia. To stay updated on upcoming meetings and new dates, please visit www.diocesigorizia.it and www.chiesagorizia2025.it.