On the night of Saint John the Baptist, the ancient devotion of the pilgrimage on foot towards the Basilica of San Giovanni a Vittoria, peace is invoked. The solemn Eucharistic celebration at dawn is in fact preceded by “Let’s Light Peace”, a prayer vigil, led by the bishop Msgr. Giuseppe La Placa and animated by the diocesan Catholic Action.
“Brothers and sisters – began the bishop – we are gathered to pray for all Christians and for all brothers and sisters whose lives are marked in these times by the terror of war, by so much suffering and death. With those who want the weapons to remain silent, we invoke the infinite mercy of the Father, asking the Lord to immediately stop all violence and begin a new time of peace and resurrection. Shout out, oh Baptist, still among us, as once in the desert. He still shouts among us in a louder voice: we will shout, if you shout”.
Let’s turn on peace is an appeal and a commitment so that the evangelical values of Peace and Solidarity can continue to permeate, today more than ever, our being citizens of the world. And in fact the prayer is followed by an appeal to the President of the Republic through the sending of hundreds of colored postcards in which, recalling the art. 11 of the Italian Constitution which establishes the sacred and inviolable right to peace, Sergio Mattarella is exhorted to continue the arduous commitment to peace in order to obtain the recognition and sharing of the entire international community.
