Author: Maria Arias

John Paul II Foundation / Articles posted by Maria Arias (Page 2)

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Magazine, News
November 8, 2024

  Father Ibrahim, it has been a year since Hamas' attack on Israel and the beginning of the war that has devastated Gaza. Did you expect such a long and devastating war? The tragic attack on October 7, 2023 unleashed a spiral of violence that still envelops the Holy Land today. In Gaza, the numbers of dead and wounded, the destruction of homes, hospitals, schools, churches and mosques have soared, and a year later they do not stop: it is a continuous war bulletin that is shockingly updated by the hour. Never would I have imagined that the war would last so long, but what worries me most is its extension to an ever larger area of the region. The war has spread from south to north; for months the West Bank and Jerusalem have been suffering from heightened tensions and the terrible consequences of violence. They have increased...

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Magazine, News
October 21, 2024

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] A partire da ottobre 2023, le tensioni lungo il confine libanese con Israele hanno scatenato un conflitto aperto, con conseguenze devastanti per la popolazione. I bombardamenti israeliani hanno causato 589 morti e 2.000 feriti, distrutto oltre 4.000 abitazioni civili e danneggiato seriamente altre 20.000. Più di 1 milione di persone sono state costrette a lasciare le loro case e le loro attività lavorative, cercando rifugio in aree del Libano ritenute più sicure, come riportato dalle Nazioni Unite e dalle autorità libanesi. La popolazione del sud del Libano e della valle della Beqaa vive nel terrore degli attacchi e nel disagio economico dovuto alla chiusura delle attività produttive. La Fondazione, che opera nel sud del Libano dal 2016 con un progetto finanziato dall'AICS (Agenzia Italiana per la Cooperazione allo Sviluppo), sostiene le famiglie di piccoli contadini e lavoratori agricoli, puntando a rafforzare le coltivazioni di agrumi e frutta tropicale per promuovere l'economia...

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Magazine, News
October 9, 2024

"In Lebanon, the situation is very serious. After the explosion of the pagers, which affected more than 2,800 people, we are for all intents and purposes back at war." Bishop Cesar calls the new escalation of Israeli attacks in Lebanese territory a huge tragedy, highlighting how this new drama adds to the difficulties Lebanon has been facing for some time now. Nearly 1,000 dead, more than a million displaced, schools closed and stormed by internally displaced persons, all testify to the enormous suffering of an already battered people who needed no further heartbreak. "We are living through a very difficult time, and we are still unable to come to grips with it," the bishop reflects. The explosions are affecting innocent civilians, and in such a situation one cannot distinguish between people, regardless of personal opinions about Hezbollah or the conflict against Israel. The war comes in an already dramatic situation: there is the political crisis, with a state that for almost two years...

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Magazine, News
October 3, 2024

It is December 25, 2023, Christmas Day. In the mental photograph that is imprinted in everyone's head, the image that appears in our foreground is that of our family, finally reunited and happy around a set table. That same day in Zuara, off the coast of Libya, in the moments when we were laughing punctuating the time between a glass of wine and a gift to unwrap, Dylan (fictitious name for privacy reasons) was swimming through the furious waves of the sea, desperately trying to get on a barge with his children and his wife. With water at his throat and his arms raised to the sky, almost as if in prayer, he held his two- and four-year-old children aloft to protect them from the stormy sea and lead them to the boat. After a strenuous struggle against the current, Dylan managed to reach the...

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Magazine, News
September 20, 2024

On Thursday, Sept. 19, FGP2 celebrated an important milestone for a number of guests of reception centers in Tuscany: 6 of them obtained the Italian language diploma "CILS A2 Integrazione." This is a crucial step toward integration and social inclusion as it provides students with useful tools to improve their autonomy and participation in the community. The elegant and excited students celebrated with joy, showing their commitment to learning the Italian language. Special thanks went to Francesco, course leader, for his passion and dedication in leading the group. During the event, Benedetta Manocchio, founder of the "iLOL" school that made the graduations possible, thanked the students, expressing pride in their journey. She, in addition, shared a touching memory from a few years ago when she worked at the center as a teacher. During a class, the crying of an infant interrupted the course and to allow the...

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Press Releases, Magazine, News
September 3, 2024

Florence, Sept. 3, 2024 The John Paul II Foundation joins the initiative promoted by some Florentine parishes to call for peace, "If you want peace, prepare peace." We reproduce the poster that the communities have prepared to invite everyone to Isolotto for Sunday, September 15. The John Paul II Foundation, which has been working in the Middle East for more than twenty-five years, joins the invitation to participate in the prayer meeting for peace, promoted by some Florentine parishes, for Sunday, September 15 in the Isolotto square in Florence. The Foundation fully endorses what the parish communities wrote, "Peace will never be the fruit of distrust, the fruit of walls, of weapons pointed at one another. St. Paul says, "Each one will reap what he has sown" (Gal 6:7). Brothers and sisters, our civilizations right now are sowing destruction, fear. Let us, brothers and sisters, sow hope! Let us be sowers of hope" (Pope Francis). Pope Francis was one of the first to declare that...

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Magazine, News
August 21, 2024

Taking in families, in our case of asylum seekers, also means having to take care of children, and this is precisely the biggest, but also the most interesting challenge we face: the youngest children represent, in fact, the future of the nuclei we host and their great opportunity to improve their situation and build a very different tomorrow from what their lives have been so far. This is why one of the priorities of the John Paul II Foundation has always been the schooling of our children. The results obtained are truly noteworthy: over the years, the work of the operators has made it possible to create a fruitful collaboration with the schools of Montevarchi and Fiesole in Tuscany that sees a constant dialogue between operators, teachers and educators. This year as many as 9 children will be enrolled in Montevarchi schools, while in Fiesole there will be 14. This is a step...

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Magazine, News
August 16, 2024

After the summer vacation of 2023, we had started the new school year with great enthusiasm, organizing creative teaching activities to engage our hearing-impaired pupils in the learning process. Unfortunately, after only a month, we had to close the school due to the ongoing war. Despite the difficulties, in January, we bravely reopened the school even though due to the conflict and road restrictions, only a few pupils were able to return to the Institute, because many of them come from countries and villages far from Bethlehem and cannot pass the strict controls around them. This situation caused us great pain and frustration, but we did not give up. We met with the children's families and decided to start again, slightly adjusting the teaching disciplines to make up for lost time and continue the training-education of our deaf children. After the Christmas holidays, it was heartwarming to see all the pupils return to...

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Magazine, News
August 13, 2024

The "Inclusi di diritto!" project, funded by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation, has been underway in Iraq since September 2022. The project takes place in the cities of Basra and Baghdad and involves three preschools accommodating 665 boys and girls. The main result was to have strengthened the skills of 62 teachers, providing them with the necessary tools to stimulate and accompany children in the early years, which are crucial for physical, mental and behavioral development. The project also improved the educational environment in Basra's preschools by making children's learning more appropriate, thanks to innovative applied teaching methodologies and improved educational environments and related materials. In an Iraq devastated by years of armed conflict, children have great difficulty in accessing quality education. This is predominantly provided by Christian schools, which, as they do not receive government support, are inaccessible...

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Magazine, News
August 8, 2024

The John Paul II Foundation, in collaboration with the Municipality of Terranuova Bracciolini, the Municipality's Social Services, Caritas of Terranuova Bracciolini, Auser and Misericordia di Terranuova Bracciolini, has launched an innovative co-housing project at an apartment confiscated from the Mafia. This project marks a significant step toward social inclusion and represents the beginning of true co-planning to respond in an integral way to the needs of the community. The co-housing project is designed to address both the housing emergency and the need for temporary support for people who need a period of support before they can continue their integration journey independently. This shared living environment meets the needs of the participants by providing them with a unique opportunity to live in a common space that promotes cooperation and a sense of community. Welcomed families are also expected to actively participate as volunteers in local associations, contributing to greater integration...

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