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THE FONDAZIONE MEDITERRANEO EXPRESSES DEEP CORDOGLY FOR THE DEATH OF ARRIGO LEVI

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Rome  ||  | 24 August 2020
Iniziative (EN) - Maison de la Paix (EN)

The president Michele Capasso, the members of the Board of Directors and the International Scientific Committee, the heads of the Autonomous Sections of the Fondazione Mediterraneo express deep condolences for the death of Arrigo Levi, one of the founding members of the institution born in Naples in 1990. In particular, the President Capasso recalls the affectionate fraternal friendship with the great journalist:
“Arrigo is facing a new journey, leaving a great void in all of us. He was above all an affectionate friend and a builder of intercultural and interreligious dialogue. Thirty years ago he enthusiastically joined the Fondazione Mediterraneo - continues Capasso - making contributions of great significance and importance. As a Councilor at the Quirinale, how can we fail to remember his brief messages, always affectionate and sincere, after sending him my notes on the occasion of the visits of the President of the Republic Ciampi to the Mediterranean countries, where our Foundation and I first of all operated. Arrigo's meetings with Predrag (Matvejevic ') are memorable: two different "agnostics". Arrigo defined himself as a "non-believer who has faith in Man", while Predrag in nothingness.
When we set up the Foundation in 1990 - immediately after the fall of the Berlin Wall - Arrigo was aware (and convinced all of us on this topic) that "the balance based on mutual fear between the two blocks had disappeared": he often warned us about "a possible atomic war capable of destroying the planet ”. This is why he strongly believed in dialogue between believers and non-believers, essentially with humanists: he often repeated "I don't believe in God, but I know that the word of God has changed man!".
Many were his stories of his life. As when in 1999 he accepted the invitation to participate in the meeting in San Giovanni in Laterano for interreligious dialogue and with irony he said: "I think I am the first Jew after St. Peter to speak in this place".