Milan, Italy, October 3, 2026 — To mark the International Day of Non-Violence, people from diverse backgrounds gathered at Parco Nord (North Park) in Milan for an event centered on peace and nonviolence. Through conversations, personal sharing, and on-site interviews, participants explored issues including human rights, equality, freedom of belief, and opposition to discrimination. They shared their understanding of peace and called for conflicts to be resolved through nonviolent means and for the dignity of every individual to be respected.
Andrea Bulgarini, an event organizer and member of the Humanist Movement and the World Without Wars and Violence organization, said that achieving peace requires respect for human rights and opposition to discrimination. He emphasized that everyone should enjoy equal rights and that people should put themselves in others’ shoes and treat others as they themselves would wish to be treated. In this way, he said, society can be built on mutual respect and free from discrimination.
Peace Means Respect, Understanding, and Freedom
At the event, participants from diverse backgrounds shared their personal perspectives on peace.
Mou Tong, a Christian from The Church of Almighty God, said that peace means people treating one another with mutual respect and understanding, and that everyone should be able to enjoy a peaceful life and freedom of belief.
Xia Tian, also a Christian from The Church of Almighty God, said that peace means everyone being able to live without fear and freely choose and practice their faith.
For Chinese Christians who have experienced persecution because of their faith and have been forced to flee overseas, peace, freedom, and dignity have an especially personal meaning.
In her sharing, Ma Su introduced their group as a community of Christians from China who, because of their commitment to their faith, have experienced varying degrees of surveillance, pursuit, and persecution by Chinese authorities. As a result, they were forced to leave their hometowns and come to Italy, seeking a safe life environment and freedom of belief.
Ma Su stated in her remarks that they gave many thanks to the Italian government and people for receiving them and allowing them to live and work in Italy according to their conscience and beliefs. Having personally endured hardship, she said, they have come to appreciate even more deeply the value of peace, freedom, and dignity.
She emphasized that regardless of where a person comes from, their ethnic background, or their religious beliefs, their life, dignity, and conscience deserve respect.
Nonviolence Does Not Mean Silence: It Means Defending Justice Through Peaceful Means
Alongside peace, nonviolence was another central theme of the event.
Xiao Yu, a Christian from The Church of Almighty God, said that nonviolence means remaining rational under all circumstances, learning to understand the people and things around us, and making an effort to avoid causing harm to one another.
Yi Jie, also a Christian from The Church of Almighty God, said that nonviolence does not mean remaining silent in the face of injustice. Rather, it means standing up for what is right, speaking out courageously, and defending human rights and dignity without responding to hatred with hatred.
Event Participants Call for Peace to Be Promoted Through Nonviolence
During the event, local Italian participants also expressed concern about the circumstances facing Chinese Christians and shared their hopes for peace and nonviolence.
Laura Salietti, a teacher who attended the event, said that although she had previously heard about the experiences of Chinese Christians, she had never before had an opportunity like this to meet and speak face-to-face with people who had personally experienced persecution because of their faith. She was glad that Italy could serve as a welcoming country for them.
She expressed the hope that these Chinese Christians who had suffered persecution would always keep peace in their hearts and that their commitment to nonviolence would serve as an example to others. In her view, as a world filled with violence begins to awaken, these Christians could also become seeds of peace in China.
Marco Fumagalli, another event participant, said that he had also heard about the many difficulties faced by Chinese Christians. He believed their experiences deserved greater public attention. He raised an important question: All human beings are equal, so why should one person persecute another who is just like them? He expressed the hope that people would always be able to live together peacefully in this world, free from violence.
Nira Cabero, a member of the Humanist Movement and the World Without Wars and Violence organization, expressed her support for people currently experiencing persecution and restrictions on their freedom. She encouraged them to continue standing up for their rights through nonviolent means and to remain steadfast in their pursuit of freedom and justice.
Let Peace Begin With Every Individual’s Choice
From calls for human rights and equality, to Chinese Christians’ appeals for freedom of belief, to Italian participants’ support for peace and the nonviolent resolution of conflicts, the event provided an opportunity for people from different cultures and experiences to listen to one another.
For those who have personally experienced persecution, peace means living free from fear, being able to live safely, practice their faith freely, and enjoy dignity. For other participants, peace means respecting differences, seeking mutual understanding, choosing dialogue over confrontation, and refusing to respond to conflict with violence or hatred.
As the event’s message conveyed, peace is not something beyond our reach. It can begin with a sincere listen, an effort to understand others, or the determination to stand up for justice in the face of injustice and reject hatred in response to harm.
Peace is not the responsibility of a select few. It is a shared choice that each of us can make.
