Dialogue and Interculturality: The Bridge That Life Crosses

Dialogue is an instrument of peace, of understanding and discovery, of encounter and exchange, of fraternity and love. Dialogue is a bridge crossed by healing emotions and words: hope, the future, intimacy, and unity. 

Crossing that bridge is this interculturality that, along with dialogue, we have put at the heart of our February 2025 Newsletter. We do so by telling the story of the Centro Studenti Giorgio La Pira. For some 40 years, this centre in Florence has been facilitating a dialogue with – and therefore listening to and helping – young people from all over the world, including those from war-torn countries.

The president of the centre, Marco Salvatori, spoke to us about this invaluable and profoundly intercultural organisation, in an interview that discussed breaking barriers, friendship, respect, and sharing.

These same themes appeared in an experience had by young Catholics and Muslims in Argentina. We look back at this experience in an article entitled ‘Playing Together: The Beginning of a Friendship Between Young Catholics and Muslims’. The article talks about people, beyond cultures, beyond language and religious beliefs. It talks about how a real encounter dispelled prejudices and sparked productive mutual understanding, using the vital tools of play and dialogue.

We covered another story in Argentina, but this time from a small village in the north of the country, Dragones. The story told of an encounter related to travel and observation; an encounter between indigenous and Creole peoples that put listening and freedom in the spotlight.

The article – provided by Ciudad Nueva Argentina – also talks about cultural exchange and building honest and authentic relationships based on respect and active listening.

Through this beautiful story, we see the nuances of effective dialogue and the importance of acknowledging others’ differences and traditions; of not expecting others to conform to our world, but instead welcoming them into their own. ‘The search for uniformity shatters communities and harms the depth of exchange’, this interesting article reads.

After all, dialogue is an effective and fundamental tool, but at the same time, a demanding one. We see this throughout all the articles in our newsletter, which is why – with a delightful and enlightening video (and accompanying article) from Annalisa Picardi – we are trying to reflect on the fundamental things that make dialogue functional and successful. Certainly, the first of these is listening. Really listening.

This is something that, at United World Project, we try never to neglect, as you can read in the article ‘Identity, Shape and Goals: a Portrait of the United World Project’.

Article translated into English by Becca Webley.