The Community of Sant'Egidio welcomes, "with gratitude and full support", the invitation by Pope Francis to prayer and fasting for peace in Syria and to overcome all situations of conflict and violence in the world.

On Saturday, September 7 in St. Peter's Square in Rome, and in the other 70 countries around the world where it is present and active, the Community, it is read in a statement, will gather to pray and repeat with force and conviction the pope’s cry: "It is never the use of violence that leads to peace. War calls for war, violence calls for violence."

As in any crisis situation, the Pope says, only dialogue and negotiation can build "the good of the entire Syrian population". The Community of Sant'Egidio, the statement recalls, is engaged in the preparation of the XXVII International Meeting for Peace that will be held in Rome from September 29 to October 1 with the theme "The courage of hope: religions and cultures in dialogue".

It will be an opportunity to stress once again, along with the pope, that "it is not the culture of conflict, but the culture of encounter and dialogue that builds the living together among the peoples, the only road to peace".