Author: Pamela Fabiano

Welcome, Pope Leo XIV!

The President and Vice-President of the John Paul II Youth Foundation, Daniele Bruno and Paul Metzlaff, together with all the members of the Board of Directors, express their congratulations on the election of Pope Leo XIV.
The Foundation offers Pope Leo XIV its willingness to continue its commitment to accompany, listen to and form young people in responsibility, solidarity and fraternity among peoples, in ‘joyful faith in Jesus the Saviour’.
Young people are truly the hope of the Church and of humanity, and for this reason, under the guidance of the Holy Father Leo XIV, the Foundation remains fully available to continue its service to the Church and to the Pope through its support for World Youth Days, especially in places where young people face the most difficult challenges on a spiritual, cultural and social level.

The Foundation extends its best wishes to Pope Leo XIV in a spirit of collaboration and obedience, with the assurance of our prayers.

Welcome, Pope Leo XIV!

Legality and the common good: young people’s participation in political life, at the service of the integral promotion of the person and the common good

 

 

On the afternoon of Monday 10 March, in Fiuggi, a conference was held, promoted by Azione Cattolica of the diocese of Anagni-Alatri, Italy, on the theme ‘Legality and the common good’ following the 50th Social Week of Italian Catholics held in Trieste from 3 to 7 July 2024. The conference was moderated by Daniele Bruno, President of the  Foundation John Paul II for Youth.

The president of Azione Cattolica of Anagni-Alatri, Concetta Coppotelli, introduced the conference by emphasising the significance of the initiative, namely a tangible sign of how much more important it is to start processes that can lead to change in the right time, rather than occupying space, an attitude that is dominant in contemporary political action. Politics cannot be relegated to a theoretical and distant dimension, but must be experienced as a daily commitment to improve society. Political education must not be seen as a privilege for the few, but as a necessity for all those who wish to contribute to the common good, especially for young people.

Bruno: may the actions of Christians always be at the service of the integral promotion of the person and the common good.

Daniele Bruno, President of the Foundation John Paul II  for Youth, moderated the entire conference and opened the debate by recalling the central themes addressed during the 50th Social Week of Italian Catholics: the current state of democracy and the active participation of citizens affected by the growing phenomenon of electoral abstention.

In this regard he explained that ‘the Magisterium of the Church does not want to exercise political power nor eliminate the freedom of opinion of Catholics on contingent issues, but to instruct and enlighten the conscience of the faithful, especially of those who are dedicated to political life, so that their actions are always at the service of the integral promotion of the person and the common good’.

Speeches and speakers

Among the speakers at the conference, introduced by the President Bruno, His Excellency Mons. Ambrogio Spreafico discussed the participation and contribution of Christians in political life. The magistrate Roberto Sparagna spoke on the subject of legality, an overused topic, but one that concerns everyone and not just those involved in the justice system. The Bishop of Verona, Domenico Pompili, spoke about the relationship between justice and charity, identifying in the figure of Jesus the difference between earthly justice and the justice of God. Charity brings justice to fulfilment and the Magisterium of the Church reminds Catholics of this, from Pope Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum to Pope Francis’ Fratelli Tutti, emphasising the connection between legality and brotherhood. Pompili said that Catholics need to get involved in the essential issues of ecology and social and economic justice (redistribution of wealth), remembering the unity that exists between charity, justice and our neighbour.

The conference ended with a reflection by Mons. Spreafico on what could be the best city for human life. The answer was: ‘the one where peace is possible because coexistence is possible’, following the example of Jerusalem, the ancient Salem whose etymology refers to the term ‘shalom’, ‘peace’ in the time of Melchizedek, king of justice, but also king of peace.

 

Challenges and opportunities to respond to the sustainability crisis

On 3rd February, the President of the Foundation, Avv. Daniele Bruno, gave a lecture as part of the High Level Course on Integral Ecology promoted by the Pontifical Gregorian University.

The Foundation was invited to present to the students the good practice of the International Congress on the Care of Creation, which, starting from the WYD in Rio de Janeiro in 2013, attempts to develop the themes related to integral ecology, declining them in different ways from WYD to WYD, always publishing a final Manifesto with which young people speak to the Church and other young people about what they dream for their future.

Promoting the value of the protection of Creation during WYD is a commitment that the Foundation has taken on and continues to carry out because ‘Pope Francis and all of us,’ said Bruno, ‘are well aware that many things need to change their course, but first of all it is humanity that needs to change. There is a lack of awareness of a common origin, of a mutual belonging and of a future shared by all. This basic awareness would allow the development of new beliefs, new attitudes and lifestyles. Thus emerges a great cultural, spiritual and educational challenge that will involve long processes of regeneration’.

In presenting to the students present the latest Manifesto published and delivered to the Holy Father Francis in Lisbon, Bruno recalled that ‘in the Manifesto, published by the Holy See Press Office in 5 languages, the young people of Lisbon committed themselves to renewing their personal ecological conversion and to making room for the Holy Spirit to illuminate their reflection and inspire the steps to be taken’.

The meeting was also held in dialogue with Prof. Gabriella Gambino, Undersecretary of the Dicastery forLaity, Family and Life, who was also invited to make the young students reflect on the concept of integral ecology.

The course, in Italian, is promoted by the Faculty of Social Sciences together with the Laudato Si’ Observatory and the Dusmet Foundation. It is divided into ten modules, each divided into two three-hour parts, which take place – for the year 2025 – from 30 January to 16 May, and are led by experts and personalities from the Catholic and non-Catholic worlds, at the forefront of sustainability.

 

SPEECH [IT]

SLIDES PRESENTATION [IT]

New Board of Directors appointed for the John Paul II Youth Foundation: Daniele Bruno reconfirmed as President for the next five years

Youth on the move with Courage and Hope

On 19 June, Giovanni Caccamo and the World Youth Orchestra in concert in favour of the John Paul II Foundation for Youth.

 

 

The evening concert organised by the John Paul II Foundation for Youth, an instrumental entity of the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life, which has been supporting the organisation of World Youth Days and the activities of the Dicastery’s Youth Office for more than thirty years, will be held on 19 June, at Villa Lusa, headquarters of the Portuguese Embassy to the Holy See.

The occasion arose from the Board’s wish to follow up on the meeting held in October 2022 in the Vatican [link], when the preparation work towards the WYD in Lisbon was presented to supporters and institutions.

In this second meeting, moderated by the presenter of A Sua Immagine Italian TV program, Lorena Bianchetti, the Foundation proposes to reflect, together with supporters and invited friends, on what can be concretely – and synergistically – done to promote Catholic youth pastoral work in the world and to support initiatives that aim to involve young people in concrete projects, in their respective fields of study and work, with a view to the next WYD in Seoul 2027.

“To pay tribute to our commitment to supporting young people and World Youth Days,” says the Foundation’s President, Avv. Daniele Bruno, “we wanted at the opening of the evening that two young artists from the World Youth Orchestra play a piece of traditional Portuguese music (remembering Lisbon 2023), a piece of Italian opera (in honour of the upcoming Youth Jubilee 2025) and a traditional Korean piece (looking towards WYD Seoul 2027).

The programme of the event – made possible thanks to the kind hospitality of His Excellency H. Ex. Domingos Teixeira de Abreu Fezas Vital, Ambassador of Portugal to the Holy See and of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta – includes the presentation of the magazine published by the Foundation, World Youth Day Magazine, renewed in form and content, and of the Acts of the Conference on the Care of Creation, which took place during WYD 2023, in Lisbon [link].

To conclude the event, there will be a musical performance by Giovanni Caccamo, an internationally recognised Italian singer-songwriter, who will present his project Parola ai giovani, which has been exhibited in various institutional venues, including the Senate of the Italian Republic and also the United Nations Building in New York, in its international declination under the name Manifesto for change – Youth and future. It is a competition of ideas, aimed at young people from all over the world to create a cultural manifesto for change, on themes such as peace, inclusion and sustainable development.

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The World Youth Orchestra has been committed since 2011 to promoting a culture of peace, affirming the belief in universal values such as peace, brotherhood, equal rights and human dignity.

Giovanni Caccamo, Sicilian singer-songwriter, with Manifesto for change – Youth and future is the spokesperson for his generation, aware of the duty of young people to create a new horizon in this historical moment of serious crisis, conflict and disintegration.

 

THE PROGRAMME [IT]

Lisbon, Portugal (2023)

Date: 1 – 6 August 2023

Pontificate: Francis

Theme: «Mary arose and went with haste» (Lk 1:39)

Hymn: “Há Pressa no Ar”

 

 

 

 

‘God loves us as we are. Everyone, everyone!’ Thus, Pope Francis opened the WYD in Lisbon, in the presence of more than 500,000 young people who increased to almost 1.5 million in the following days. ‘You are not here by accident. The Lord has called you, not only in these days, but from the very beginning of your days. He called you by name.’
Addressing the youth, Francis invited them to reflect ‘on the beautiful fact that God loves us. God loves us as we are, not how we want to be or how society wants us to be. As we are! He calls us with our faults and failings, our limitations and our hopes in life. That is how God calls us. Trust, because God is a Father and a Father who loves us.”.

During the Final Mass, however, the Holy Father asked the young people gathered in Tejo Park the question: “ What will we take back with us as we resume our daily lives? I would like to answer this question with three verbs, drawing from the Gospel we have heard: to shine, to listen, and to be unafraid. What will we take back with us? I would respond with these three words: to shine, to listen, and to be unafraid

The novelty of this WYD 2023 was in the expected announcement of the following World Youth Day, which will be only  in 2027, in Seoul, South Korea.

In 2025, in fact, everyone was invited to participate in the Youth Jubilee in Rome.

All speeches by the Holy Father: https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/travels/2023/outside/documents/portogallo-gmg-2023.html