“The Pope calls for the signs of the times to be transformed into signs of hope. The signs of the times are those of a Mediterranean Sea torn apart by conflict and discord. Inhabiting the present times with care means transforming what would otherwise be a reason for sorrow into a reason for hope that starts with us.” With these words, Msgr. Giuseppe Baturi, Secretary General of the Italian Episcopal Conference, presented the project “Prendersi cura – Una famiglia per ogni comunità” (Taking care – A family for every community), jointly launched in Rome on Thursday 30 January by the Mediterranean Youth Council, the Mare Nostrum Network and the Giorgio La Pira Foundation, “in continuity with the spirit that animated the meetings of the Bishops of Bari and Florence.” “In the historical context in which we live and in the ecclesial context of the Jubilee, this initiative is a source of comfort, a caress of mercy that validates hope”, added the General Secretary of the Italian Episcopal Conference. “In recalling the theme of hope,” bishop Baturi continued, “the Pope is recalling the theme of building the future.” “The lack of hope, whether because one is too embittered or because one is too conceited, implies the impossibility of building a future. We must always keep our gaze fixed on hope, in the belief that our desire for goodness will be fulfilled.” Moreover, “there is no hope of goodness if it does not include others.” In this respect, hope is closely connected to love, because “those who love are those who hope.” “And just as love means living for others, hope requires sharing”.
“Taking care is an extraordinary thing to do in these times of increasing denunciations of violence, indifference and neglect. Taking care means recognizing another person’s hurt and not turning the other way. It means supporting the other person on their journey.”
Tina Hamalaya and Nicholle Salerno, respectively Secretary and delegate of the Italian Bishops’ Conference to the Mediterranean Youth Council, presented the details of the initiative. They explained that the project is being proposed to the various Episcopal Conferences and Patriarchates. It will have as its starting point a meeting of young people with the Presidents of their respective Episcopal Conferences, who will in turn promote it in their dioceses and local communities. A group of people will be set up locally to assess the situations of poverty, need and marginalisation that exist in these areas. Finally, we will move on to the operational phase, which will include an outline of the actions to be undertaken. Each project will then be submitted to the General Secretariat of the Mediterranean Youth Council by 31 March 2025.
The project is specifically designed to help emigrants, refugees and asylum seekers. It can also be extended to all those situations of need and difficulty which affect the homeless, families with children, women victims of human trafficking, young people: “all those situations of vulnerability and the tragic living conditions which, unfortunately, characterise our society in increasingly worrying proportions”. Each Church, diocese and sponsoring organisation will then “adapt” it to their own diverse local contexts. There are already plans for new ideas and twinning. One such example, Nicholle explained, is the twinning between the diocese of Brindisi – a city overlooking the Mediterranean Sea with a rich history of hospitality – and Beirut, with the Apostolic Vicariate of the Latins, a face of Lebanon, a country of immigration. The young people call on the Churches of the Mediterranean to place hospitality and solidarity at the “heart of the commitment for the Jubilee Year” and “to extend a helping hand. to heal the wounds of those in need.” Patrizia Giunti, President of the Giorgio La Pira Foundation, remembered the reflections of the Florence-born statesman on the “strategic role” of the Mediterranean.
“The Mediterranean – she said – is a multiplier of effects. A pacified Mediterranean is therefore a Mediterranean that transmits a model of peace to the three continents. But if the Mediterranean is a powder keg waiting for a spark, it risks turning into a source of instability for the whole planet.”
