«I hope that this time, which will be held in the land of Puglia, the G7 will be the seed for a future and lasting peace. May the final response be: we have achieved peace, peace has been reborn. It would be wonderful.” It is the hope of Al Bano Carrisi, the singer-songwriter and actor from Cellino San Marco, ambassador of Puglia in the world, who yesterday he met Pope Francis in the Vaticanwhose presence at the meeting of the planet’s greats scheduled for 13 to 15 June in Borgo Egnazia was made official in a video message from Prime Minister Meloni. Al Bano visited the Holy Father during an initiative dedicated to grandparents and grandchildren who «represent the bridge of life: on the one hand those who have no experience, on the other those who have a lot of experience. The ones who pass it on to the others.”
Al Bano, it is not the first time he has met the Pontiff. What do you think of him?
«In my opinion this Pope is the reincarnation of Saint Francis. The fortune is that there are still people of this caliber in the world. It’s not the first time and it won’t be the last time I meet him and it will always be a great emotion. He is a person who shouts against war and does the Pope’s job very well. He has total devotion towards humanity.”
The Holy Father will be in Puglia for the G7. Do you believe that his presence could be decisive for the resolution of ongoing international conflicts?
«I answer like this: if the devil has not taken the place of the Christian in the minds of all those who will be there, his presence will be indispensable. Because we all have to fight, each of us, to abolish this story of the cursed war which now has no reason to exist. But unfortunately it exists and still causes damage, which we thought had ended with the Second World War. You are playing with the world, with humanity, with life. But with that of others. Because they, those who declare war, are always on the sidelines. All those who declare it should be the first to demonstrate how to fight a war.”
Could the fact that Puglia was chosen for the meeting make the region even more of a “land of peace”?
«I hope that it is not only Puglia, but all places, because we need it. Because with war there is guaranteed death, with peace there is guaranteed progress. Progress means living better, doing good for people, taking steps in human history of a certain type. If man defends himself with bullets there is never progress, the best bullet should be the love that is within us and that we can offer to others. It’s not a utopia.”
