The Foundation in Italy

Since 2007, the year in which it was born, the John Paul II Foundation has always believed that our work in the Holy Land and the Middle East should be accompanied by a great commitment in our own territory as well, a commitment that has grown more and more also because of the difficult challenges that our country has had to face in recent times: the economic crisis of 2008, the dizzying increase in migration to Italy and Europe, and finally the coronavirus pandemic.

For these reasons, the Foundation promotes various interventions on behalf of individuals and families in need, whom we help through a family fund, the disbursement of grocery vouchers and the delivery of food parcels, the latter in collaboration with the Padre Nostro Center in Palermo.

Thanks to the"...and you welcomed me" project, we have created a small Extraordinary Reception Center that currently houses three Nigerian families. The Reception Center resides at Villa Pettini in Montevarchi (AR), in which a social canteen will be built and where other projects have been developed, from job training for people living in a condition of social marginality to psychological listening desks and legal counseling in the area, thanks also to the contribution of Qoelet, the social enterprise created by the Foundation to place people in difficulty in the world of work.

Finally, our help could not but also focus on the rights of children in socio-economic hardship. Through collaboration with the Padre Nostro Center in Palermo, we are building a kindergarten in Palermo's Brancaccio neighborhood to fulfill the dream of Don Pino Puglisi, the priest killed by Cosa Nostra on Sept. 15, 1993, because of his commitment to the fight against the Mafia.

Finally, it is precisely in Italy that two of the most significant actions in the field ofecumenism of the promotion of religious and intercultural dialogue were born. The journal Colloquia Mediterranea and the newsletter Veritas in Caritate represent two of the most important spaces for reflection and debate in this field. Our projects in schools on global citizenship education were also born in this wake, with the aim of reflecting together with future generations on the themes of peace, dialogue and legality.