Dr. Claudio Mario Betti

Sant'Egidio's chief spokesman Claudio Betti said this approach bore fruit in 2003 when Sant'Egidio was mediating in Liberia.

"The rebels and the government had been stalling for weeks, but when a breakthrough looked imminent, I was called over and had to cut short my holiday in the Dead Sea after only three days," said Betti, who is a university professor.

"But when I arrived, they kept on stalling," Betti said."So I started getting annoyed and said to them, 'Look, I'm not paid to do this and you've cut short my holiday.' They replied, 'Really?You're not paid?' I told them, 'No:"

Said Betti, "They signed the peace agreement the next day."

Claudio Betti, a spokesman for Sant'Egidio, noted, "Over the years, we have been able to gather together leaders who have found a way to speak to each other about their differences, recognizing that the road is long, but that peace is the common destiny of humanity.
...
Claudio Betti, Community of Sant'Egidio, cmbetti@fastwebnet.it

, Presenter: Claudio Mario Betti: representative of Sant'Egidio.Italy.

Radio interview with Claudio Betti of the Sant'Egidio community in Rome

Over 3,000 people, from a wide variety of backgrounds and organisations, attended lectures and seminars conducted by Dr Claudio Betti, a founder of the Sant'Egidio Community, who was in Australia in February.

The Sant'Egidio Community, a lay Catholic association, was established in Rome in 1968.Its first members were a group of high school students who joined forces to pray and work together for the poor and marginalised.

From these humble beginnings, it has grown into an international lay movement, with some 40,000 members in all five continents.Apart from charitable works, Dr Betti and the Sant'Egidio Community have been involved in efforts to mediate on behalf of victims of civil war and other conflicts in such places as Lebanon (1982) and Mozambique (1989-92); to engage in inter- religious dialogue, including the International Meetings of People and Religions at Assisi; and to carry out rescue operations on behalf of Iraki refugees in 1986, and a Bosnian Muslim leader, Mr Ibrahim Rugova, freed from a Serb prison in 1999.
...
Dr Betti also spoke to a number of Australian political leaders on the humanitarian work of the Sant'Egidio Community, and gave a number of addresses, including talks to:

* students and teachers of Xavier College and St John's, Dandenong;

* the Thomas More Summer School, where he gave two inspirational talks to around 150 young people, on "Living the Beatitudes" and "Blessed are the Peacemakers - Transforming the World";

* the Catholic Commission for Justice, Development and Peace and Catholic Social Services on "Making Peace in a Time of Conflict";

* the Catholic Pastoral Formation Centre, on "Peace in an Age of War".In his address, Dr Betti addressed the dangerous situation in Iraq, saying, "Only prayer can assist us for a miracle is needed to prevent this war from eventuating."

His presentation inspired Melbourne's Archbishop Hart to call for a novena to pray for peace, reflecting the urgency of the situation in Iraq, as well as having faith that for the Lord, nothing is impossible.
...
In his address to Victoria University's Europe-Australia Institute, Dr Betti spoke on "Christians and Muslims in Europe: how can they co- exist?".

In this paper, Dr Betti referred to the challenge presented to nations such as Italy, France and Germany by Muslim immigrants and refugees over the past thirty years, which has made Islam the fastest growing religion in Western Europe.

Pointing to predictions that the 20th century would see the end of religions and the triumph of secularism, he said these predictions have been proven false: "In reality, especially in the last decades of the 20th century, we have witnessed a 'revanche de Dieu', a revenge of God, as it has been acutely stated by the Islamologist Gilles Kepel", in which religion has re-emerged as the most powerful force, far stronger than the dying secular culture.

The challenge, he said, is not to reject the newcomers, but to make them welcome, being careful not to ignore divisions and not to erase differences.

The starting point for any dialogue, he said, is that "every religion, in fact, presents itself as a way to salvation and is thus substantially self-sufficient.

Media release - ACU National welcomes Dr Claudio Betti and the Sant'Egidio Community (09/02/2006)

ACU National welcomes Dr Claudio Betti, founder member of the Rome-based Community of Sant'Egidio, to three of its campuses this month. » More

The Dalai Lama, 70, was omitted from this year's guest list because of health problems, not political reasons, said Claudio Betti, spokesman for the Sant'Egidio community, which is organizing the gathering.

"He is one of the most difficult people to get," Mr. Betti said.
...
Mr. Betti said the conference, held every year since Assisi in European venues and at Georgetown for the first time in the Americas, was reconfigured to be completely in English and include many American religious figures.

"In order to impact the society here, we needed to make it more American," he said.
...
The conference "is very important this year because it's in Washington," Mr. Betti said.

The Dalai Lama, 70, was omitted from this year's guest list because of health problems, not political reasons, said Claudio Betti, spokesman for the Sant'Egidio community, which is organizing the gathering."He is one of the most difficult people to get," Mr. Betti said.
...
Mr. Betti said the conference, held every year since Assisi in European venues and at Georgetown for the first time in the Americas, was reconfigured to be completely in English and include many American religious figures. "In order to impact the society here, we needed to make it more American," he said."America is a universe all its own.Look how many high-level American Muslims you have at this conference."On Thursday, the event will split into three panel discussions held at five venues around campus.It will close Thursday afternoon with a service for peace at Holy Trinity Catholic Church at 36th and N streets Northwest in the District, and then a "peace procession" from the church to a closing candlelight ceremony involving 3,000 people will be held on Healy Lawn at the main campus. The conference "is very important this year because it's in Washington," Mr. Betti said.

The Dalai Lama, 70, was omitted from this year's guest list because of health problems, not political reasons, said Claudio Betti, spokesman for the Sant'Egidio community, which is organizing the gathering. "He is one of the most difficult people to get," Mr. Betti said.
...
Mr. Betti said the conference, held every year since Assisi in European venues and at Georgetown for the first time in the Americas, was reconfigured to be completely in English and include many American religious figures. "In order to impact the society here, we needed to make it more American," he said."America is a universe all its own.Look how many high-level American Muslims you have at this conference." On Thursday, the event will split into three panel discussions held at five venues around campus.It will close Thursday afternoon with a service for peace at Holy Trinity Catholic Church at 36th and N streets Northwest in the District, and then a "peace procession" from the church to a closing candlelight ceremony involving 3,000 people will be held on Healy Lawn at the main campus. The conference "is very important this year because it's in Washington," Mr. Betti said.

"Over the years, we have been able to gather together leaders who have found a way to speak to each other about their differences, recognizing that the road is long, but that peace is the common destiny of humanity," said Claudio Betti, a spokesman for Sant'Egidio.
...
"We need to talk to people who aren't convinced that dialogue is important," said Betti."We need to show them that this is the path they can walk on."

Betti said it is important to maintain the differences between politicians and religious leaders."We want religious leaders to interact with politicians, not to do their job," he said.

The DNA of coexistence is deeply imbedded in American history, Betti said.
...
"We will have done our job if we open a couple of hearts," said Betti.