inSiEME 2026 – An Experience of Muslim-Christian Brotherhood for Young People

Twenty-one young people from across northern Italy—ten Christians and eleven Muslims—gathered this year at the Monastery of Bose for an intense experience of interreligious fellowship aimed at deepening mutual understanding, fostering dialogue about life and faith, and building fraternal bonds. This fourth edition continues the journey begun in 2022, when the Bose monastic community first offered the program in collaboration with the interreligious youth initiative Astri nella notte in Milan and with the support of the Commission for Ecumenism and Interreligious Dialogue of Piedmont and the Aosta Valley.

The daily program alternated between Christian and Islamic prayer in separate spaces, work alongside the brothers and sisters of the community, workshops on reflection and action, and a visit to the mosque in Biella Chiavazza, where the group received a warm welcome. The participants brought fresh enthusiasm and openness to the challenge of growing through encounter with diversity and recognizing it as a gift. This year’s program suggested that cultural and religious diversity can indeed be “a beautiful difference.” Acknowledging our fears, closed-mindedness, and prejudices can be the first step toward transforming the way we view one another.

Throughout the journey, the young people were accompanied by a team of facilitators and several invited experts, to whom we extend our deepest gratitude: Dr. Haifa Alsakkaf, an intercultural educator and founder of Good Word Citizen in Florence, and anthropologist Monica Gallone of Canelli, who guided the first stage of our “journey into difference” through interactive activities and role-playing exercises; Laura Coser and Valeriia Kozeletska, staff members of Rondine Cittadella della Pace in Arezzo, who led a workshop on the creative transformation of conflict; and Sister Paola Barbierato of Turin and Shaykh Ibrahim Gabriele Iungo of Turin, who thoughtfully offered participants tools and perspectives for deepening their understanding of one another’s faiths, drawing on the sources of their respective Christian and Islamic traditions.

The joy of the young participants and our gratitude to the Lord for the fruits of this experience encourage us to continue this journey, committing ourselves day by day to building a world that is a colorful mosaic of fraternity through authentic relationships marked by mutual respect.