Press releases

John Paul II Foundation / Press Releases

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...

Today, 20 June 2024, World Refugee Day, we wish to make an appeal to the whole community. What makes us people? What characteristics must an individual have in order to be considered a human being, a being equal to us? Is it the country of origin, the color of the skin, the language or the possession of a plastic card that certifies the legal residence in the country? When an individual does not meet these criteria, "our" criteria, then he immediately becomes an outcast, a person who does not deserve the same rights as us, but who above all is not worthy of our humanity. Today, the John Paul II Foundation intends to express itself on those who are considered as objects. Objects of rejection, hatred, contempt but also objects of work as tools to be exploited. All to get support from the society that fears them so much, but can't do without them. Today we are talking...

May Satnam's death teach us to change course, while there is still time We were stunned and speechless by what happened in the countryside of Latina, to the young Indian boy Satnam Singh who lost his life due to the cruelty of Italians who did not assist him after the serious accident he suffered while working in the fields. What has happened, as it is taking shape, calls on all of us to take a stand and to reverse the "course": you cannot let a person die without assisting him, dumping him in the street with his wife, without telephones, with a serious haemorrhage in progress, with his arm placed in a fruit box. The government should intervene and regularise the people who worked next to Sarnam with residence permits so that they can testify and tell all the brutality of what happened. Satnam's is not a death at work, it is the denial of...

The "Service Center" desk, located at the offices of the John Paul II Foundation on Viale Roma 9, opens in the town of Pratovecchio-Stia on Tuesday, March 5. The result of a collaboration between the John Paul II Foundation, Caritas diocesana of Fiesole, Patronato ACLI of Arezzo and ACLI Service of Arezzo, this new counter will provide targeted services for migrants (residence permit, family reunification, citizenship and legal assistance), INPS social security practices (pension, disability, unemployment), and tax assistance (730 models, ISEE). The desk is part of a larger project, financed by the Bank of Italy, that provides support to vulnerable groups in the ways that the John Paul II Foundation has already successfully experimented in the Valdarno Aretino area. Opening hours will be dedicated to migrant services on the 1st and 3rd Monday of the month from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.; the patronage office will be open every Thursday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.; while the CAF will be available...

The John Paul II Foundation, together with the Villa Pettini Family Point, the Fraternity of the Visitation and the Ant, has launched the project "The Villa Pettini table: a community that welcomes and includes" for the social integration of people living in socio-economic hardship, particularly migrants in the area. The project, funded by the Tuscany Region and supported by the Valdarno Conference of Mayors, has already begun in previous months with preparatory activities, but from February 14, 2024, it will enter its final operational phase. This includes the opening of a desk aimed at offering services of employment guidance, housing support and contribution, legal assistance as well as cultural mediation. In addition, job training pathways are planned. The counter will be available, by appointment, every Wednesday from 3 to 6 p.m. at the Giglio Oratory (Via Michelangelo,1 Montevarchi), the Don Bosco Oratory (Via Papa Giovanni XXIII, 2 San Giovanni V.no) or at the Caritas headquarters (Piazza Masaccio,...

The John Paul II Foundation, which has been working in the Middle East for more than twenty-five years, seeks four young people for community service. The countries of focus are Lebanon and Jordan. In Lebanon we are sought for figures for a project aimed at improving the socioeconomic and environmental conditions of rural communities, enhancing natural resources through sustainable models of consumption and development. In Jordan we are seeking figures for a project to support services for hearing-impaired children in the areas of inclusive education and health. The commitment required will be for 12 months, with an average of 25 hours of service per week. Interested youth can send in their applications until 2 p.m. Feb. 15, 2024. The Call for Applications can be read in full at https://www.scelgoilserviziocivile.gov.it/leggi-il-bando/il-testo/. More information can be obtained by writing to s.ferrari@fondazionegiovannipaolo.org. You can submit your application, online only, at https://domandaonline.serviziocivile.it/. For each country you will find the project summary sheet by clicking the links below: "White Helmets for.

The John Paul II Foundation, which has been working in the Middle East for over twenty-five years and is recognized by both the State of Israel and the Palestinian National Authority, joins the appeal promoted by the national network AssisiPaceJustice. On Sunday, February 4, it will be present in the Palazzo Vecchio and invites its friends and supporters to take part. Just as we wholeheartedly participated last October 23 in the silent torchlight proclaimed by Father Bernardo Gianni. A moment shared with many thousands of people of all faiths and different political affiliations but united by asking for peace. United by walking together, side by side, carrying a candle to light the way. The Foundation joins today, as it has always done in the past, in calling for the realization of the "two peoples in two states" solution, the only way to lasting peace in the Middle East, without any more delay or hesitation. Today in these dark days we are living through, the identification of...

The John Paul II Foundation will participate in Saturday's March for Peace through the streets of Arezzo. The coming together, women and men, of different religions and cultures, united by remembrance, by memory, walking to ask for peace is important in this particular historical moment we are living. Walking together is a sign of hope and, at the same time, of closeness with those who cannot do so because they are under bombs or inhabitants of undemocratic countries. In these weeks in which the only voices we hear are the cries of those who are killed, tortured, oppressed in many countries of the world, we in silence will walk alongside each other, because every woman or man is my brother and sister. The John Paul II Foundation, established over 25 years ago, joins and will ask its friends and supporters to participate in the March to reaffirm the centrality of man and his rights: right to peace, right to...

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