17 April 2026
Is an authentic and fruitful encounter between different peoples and traditions possible? Or are differences destined to remain separate in order to avoid ever-present conflict?
This is the challenge revealed in the April stage of our journey toward the 2026 edition of the Meeting. The focus of this month is an exhibition project currently in preparation, dedicated to one of the most extraordinary chapters of the early modern period: the missions of the Society of Jesus between the 16th and 17th centuries.
This will not simply be a dive into the past. Through encounters that took place in Brazil, Peru, Paraguay, China, and Japan, we will discover how contact between Christianity and non-European peoples generated a true paradigm shift. Not a cold “cultural neutrality,” but a new perspective capable of engaging with local traditions while valuing their uniqueness. The Jesuits sought the soul of these cultures, practicing a kind of “transformative preservation.” It is a challenge that speaks powerfully to our own divided present.
Introducing this theme in today’s video are the protagonists of the exhibition workshop: Pietro Zancaner, Francesco Foschi, and Laura Galli, representing the group of university students working on the project alongside the curators.
In preparing for it, they challenged themselves by meeting scholars from the regions touched by those historic missions, asking the most radical question: does Christianity become a form of violence when it encounters another culture?
As Pietro explains in the video, the Jesuit missionaries’ answer lay in respect and deep empathy, beginning with a passionate study of local languages: “the privileged ground,” as Francesco comments, “on which to encounter the other without doing violence,” in order to discover together a core of truth.
The Jesuits liked to call themselves “friends in the Lord.” And this, as Laura emphasizes, is the heart of the journey ahead: “to show how friendship with Christ made possible an unprecedented friendship among peoples,” reconciling worlds and cultures that once seemed to have nothing in common.
Watch the video to hear directly from them how the exhibition is taking shape.
We look forward to seeing you in August at the Meeting to discover how friendship can transform history.
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