On Saturday 5 October, the inaugural ceremony of the new year of the School of Language and Culture was held in the Moragues Hall of the El Born Cultural Centre. The event was organised by the Community of Sant'Egidio and diplomas were awarded to immigrant students who achieved significant levels of literacy and language competence in Spanish and Catalan. Last year, more than 250 students enrolled at the two centres of the school - in the Casa de l'Amistat in the centre of Barcelona and in the La Mina district of Sant Adrià de Besòs. Many ‘new Europeans’ took part in the ceremony and celebrated their diplomas together with their teachers.
The event took up the theme of the recent International Meeting for Peace in Paris, ‘’IMAGINE PEACE‘’, to emphasise how the encounter between cultures and religions builds a fabric of peaceful coexistence and provides a concrete response to today's climate of mistrust and sometimes hatred growing also in Spanish society in the current international context.
A large audience attended the ceremony, including students, teachers, some friends and families of the graduates. Among the authorities present, university professor Joan Lluís Pérez Francesc emphasised that ‘peace is a struggle that begins in each person's heart’ and Sonia Fuertes, Commissioner for Social Affairs of the Barcelona City Council, underlined ‘the value of Sant'Egidio's service in building a better world. It helps to create bonds and to recognise or discover what unites us’.
