The 47th edition of the Rimini Meeting presented at the Embassy of Italy to the Holy See

“At the heart of the 2026 Meeting will be the visit of the Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV. His presence is a source of great joy. It will be an encounter with everyone taking part in the Meeting: children, young people, students, young and older families. Everyone will have the opportunity to greet him as he makes his way through the exhibition halls,” said Bernhard Scholz, President of the Meeting Foundation.

“The intention expressed in this year’s theme, The love that moves the sun and the other stars, has found in the Holy Father’s encyclical Magnifica Humanitas both great encouragement and a surprising deepening and broadening of its horizon. Several themes highlighted by Pope Leo XIV in the encyclical will be reflected in many of the Meeting’s events: the affirmation of the greatness and dignity of every human being; the awareness that our limitations do not suffocate us but rather open us to dialogue with the infinite; reflections on the meaning of work and research; and the urgent need for a form of communication that fosters the relational dimension of the human person.”

“The conflict tearing the Middle East apart affects every aspect of life: families divided and grieving, an economy on its knees, increasingly difficult relations between peoples and profound uncertainty about the future,” said Fr. Francesco Ielpo during the presentation. “Yet I believe that today the deepest question is another: what does it mean to be Christian when war seems never to end? In such a dramatic context, the temptation is to divide the world into good and evil, friends and enemies. Before asking who you are, many people first want to know which side you are on. Refusing to align oneself according to the logic of confrontation, as has always been the case at the Rimini Meeting, does not mean being neutral.”

On the contrary, the Custos of the Holy Land continued, “living the Gospel means becoming fully involved in the destiny of every man and every woman. It means denouncing every injustice with clarity, without renouncing the truth and without allowing hatred to dwell in our hearts.” According to Fr. Ielpo, “remaining today in the Holy Land means sharing the destiny of the people entrusted to our care and safeguarding a hope that is not nourished by immediate results but is founded on Christ’s Resurrection. The Holy Sepulchre reminds us that death does not have the final word. This is why the Christian community continues to open schools, support families, the elderly, children and the poor, and pray every day. We are called to preserve a certain hope and a possible fraternity, nurturing those small shoots of dialogue that still survive—rarely making the news, yet keeping alive the possibility of peace.”

“Putting people and communities at the centre: this priority has been translated into government action,” said Undersecretary Lucia Albano. “I am thinking of the Action Plan for the Social Economy, approved by the Council of Ministers just a few days ago, which recognises and promotes the strategic role of an economy that, while described as ‘social’, is fully acknowledged as a genuine part of the economic system. The same spirit inspires the National Housing Plan, which addresses one of the most urgent social challenges of our time by placing sustainable housing at its core. These policies share the same vision of development: growth centred on the human person, whose success is measured not only economically but also by its human and social impact.”

“No technology is neutral, because it reshapes the way we think, act and relate to one another and, more broadly, forces us to reflect on what it means to be human,” said Benedetta Giovanola. “Artificial intelligence does so with unprecedented power and pervasiveness. Its benefits should not be underestimated, but neither should its risks, especially when significant individual and collective decisions are entrusted to AI systems. The more autonomous and agentic these systems become—that is, capable of making decisions and taking action—the more decisive the ethical question becomes. The challenge is not only, or even primarily, technological: it is ethical. We must ensure that AI serves people and the relationships that give meaning to our lives, rather than the other way around.”

The most eagerly awaited moment of the entire event will be the meeting with the Holy Father on 22 August, beginning at 3:00 p.m. A large Auditorium seating 10,000 people has been prepared, where Pope Leo XIV will deliver his address at 4:00 p.m. His speech will be broadcast live to all halls and designated areas throughout the exhibition centre. Participants will also have the opportunity to welcome and greet the Pope as he passes through the Meeting pavilions.

Each day of the Meeting will feature leading figures from the worlds of institutions, culture, academia, business, the Church, and representatives of different faiths and cultures.

The opening event, on 21 August at 12:00 noon, will present the testimony of two women who, despite experiencing profound grief on opposite sides of the same tragedy, chose to meet one another, transforming suffering into a journey of fraternity and hope: Roseline Hamel, whose brother, Fr. Jacques Hamel, was murdered in the 2016 terrorist attack in Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray, and Nassera Kermiche, mother of one of the attackers.

As always, the scale of the Meeting is impressive. More than 130,000 square metres of exhibition space will be set up at the Rimini Expo Centre, representing a 16% increase compared with 2025. The Meeting will remain open every day until midnight and once again confirms itself as Italy’s only major event offering both free admission and free parking.

The programme includes more than 150 conferences featuring around 500 Italian and international speakers, 13 exhibitions and 13 performances. Four performances will take place at the Teatro Galli in Rimini city centre, with tickets available through Vivaticket, while two film screenings will be hosted in the historic Corte degli Agostiniani.

The Yoga Children’s Village will cover approximately 9,000 square metres and offer a rich programme of exhibitions, talks, performances and workshops, with more than 200 events dedicated to children, young people and their families.

The Enel Sport Village will occupy more than 13,000 square metres, in collaboration with the Italian Sports Centre (CSI), Cdo Sport and RBR Rinascita Basket Rimini.

The invaluable contribution of volunteers also remains a defining feature of the Meeting: more than 3,000 volunteers will arrive from Italy and around the world, 58% of whom are under the age of thirty.

Around 180 companies are supporting the 2026 Meeting. Main Partners are Intesa Sanpaolo and Generali. Official Partners are ACI, Autostrade per l’Italia, Confagricoltura, Consorzio La Cascina, Eni, Enel, Fondazione ANIA, Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane Group, isybank and Montello. Yoga is the partner of the Children’s Village; Novo Nordisk is Health Partner; Reggini is Mobility Partner; Trenitalia is Official Green Partner; and Comin & Partners is Communication Partner.

An exhibition area will also be dedicated to the Italian Representation to the European Parliament and the European Commission. Once again, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation will manage a space devoted to international cooperation. The Meeting’s long-standing focus on infrastructure, transport, urban regeneration and the environment will be reflected in dedicated exhibition areas involving the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security and the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport.

Dedicated spaces will also be hosted by the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Education and Merit, the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies, the Ministry for Public Administration, the Ministry for Sport, and the Ministry of Agriculture.

The participation of the Italian Regions will once again be significant. Ten Regions have chosen the Meeting this year as the venue to promote their institutional activities, particularly in the fields of tourism, food and wine, the environment and energy.

Admission and parking are entirely free of charge.

Starting today, Wednesday 8 July, the full programme of conferences, the Yoga Children’s Village and the Enel Sport Village will be available on the website www.meetingrimini.org, while the programmes for the exhibitions and performances are already online.

The renewed Meeting Rimini app, updated for 2026, is also available today for Android, iOS and HarmonyOS devices through Google Play, the App Store and Huawei AppGallery.

The app is essential for attending the Meeting, as it provides access to the exhibition centre from 21 to 26 August, allows users to book conferences and exhibition visits, read news updates and access exclusive content. It will also include all the information and participation procedures relating to the Holy Father’s visit on 22 August.