The Vatican has presented a new project: “MED25 - Bella Esperanza”. Starting on March 1, a school ship will make an 8-month pilgrimage in which 200 young people between the ages of twenty and thirty will take part. A journey in search of peace that takes on significance in times of confrontation and division in the world.
CARD. JEAN-MARC AVELINE 35
You have been able to listen to and report on this Mediterranean project, which is so important to the Pope's initiative and for peace, for the well-being of many people. We know that the international situation today obliges us to do this work of building peace, consolidating justice and experiencing brotherhood.
This meeting builds on the call made by Pope Francis at the Mediterranean Meetings held in previous years in Bari, Florence, Marseille and Tirana, with the aim of making the Mediterranean a place of peace, diversity and encounter.
MONS. GIUSEPPE SATRIANO
This is the Pope's profound desire, joining forces to give voice to the least, to defend the dignity of every human being and to witness to the beauty of a communion that overcomes divisions. The experience of the ship will be an experience that gives concreteness to this desire, in which there is a prospective investment, because the idea of being able to bring the churches together is to be cultivated precisely by starting from the bottom.
The task of this pilgrimage will be to seek peace through dialogue and encounters. They will sail and stop in countries along the Mediterranean coast, passing through North Africa and the Middle East. In total, they will make 30 stopovers from March to October.
P. ALEXIS LEPROUX
There's a lot of preparatory work to be done for these young people, especially in regions like Israel and Palestine that are in conflict. But there are other regions. We're thinking of Armenia, Ukraine and the island of Cyprus too, all of which are difficult places. So we want all these young people on the ship to come with a willingness to listen to each other, and not to enter into the level of states and the political aspect of conflicts. We want to stay at the level of personal experience and the experience of their society as they perceive it. And the challenge, as Monsignor Satriano rightly said, is to build communion.
CARD. JUAN JOSÉ OMELLA
To walk together with the different cultures, the different religions… but, in the end, being all brothers. Because this is how peace will be built. Otherwise, if we see the other as an enemy to be defeated, fought, won, or humiliated, the world will not advance in this way. The world has to be a place of peace, where there are different colors but like the rainbow: different colors but it is beautiful. A single color, a single color, is very boring, it is better to have different colors.
This project will take on board and will have Pope Francis' words on peace in the Mediterranean very present. After all, this project was promulgated by the pope and all of them know it well…
P. ALEXIS LEPROUX
In the next eight months, it's very important for us to go to all the places where he himself has been and pass on this message to him. And if he follows us, we will tell him from the bottom of our hearts that we have heard what he has said to the Mediterranean. He has reminded us of the vocation of the Mediterranean, and we don't want the words he has spoken to fall by the wayside without bearing fruit. And the hearts of these young people will be able to convey to the Pope the fact that this call has been heard. And we'll be writing him little postcards from all the places we'll be, and he'll receive, like this throughout the year, around 200 postcards. And I hope he'll be delighted to receive them.
In each port, the crew will attend a thematic seminar and each voyage will be dedicated to a specific topic such as the environment, migration or the economy.
JH
