The John Paul II Foundation by Pope Leo XIV
THE JOHN PAUL II FOUNDATION FROM POPE LEO XIV
Yesterday, John Paul II Foundation President Damiano Bettoni met with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican.
The occasion was an audience with members of the Mediterranean Youth Council during the plenary session being held between Florence, Fiesole and Rome.
The John Paul II Foundation is part of the Mare Nostrum Network, which coordinates the council.
On the same day, President Bettoni was also able to explain the Foundation's commitment and numerous activities to the Secretary General of the IEC, Msgr. Giuseppe Baturi.
"Be sprouts of peace, voice of the voiceless to demand justice and dignity... You are the present of hope!" the Holy Father told those present.
President Bettoni, during the brief face-to-face meeting with the Pontiff, briefly recounted the Foundation's commitment particularly in the Holy Land and the Near East. He recalled how the Foundation was born in 2007 at the behest of the Bishop of Fiesole Bishop Luciano Giovannetti, ten years after the episode that saw him and some pilgrims from the diocese stopped by soldiers at the gates of Bethlehem: with their example and determination, that representative of faith and courage transformed a ban on entry into a gesture of peace and fidelity. "For eighteen years," Bettoni emphasized to Pope Leo, "the Foundation has been promoting justice and dignity against poverty and exclusion, permanently investing in training, shelter, professional support, and health tools. It does this not as sporadic efforts and occasional 'spots,' but by building concrete bridges on the ground, thanks to local and international collaborations." In the Holy Land, but also in Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Burkina Faso as well as in Italy with the reception of refugees and migrants particularly in Valdarno, the John Paul II Foundation, the president said again, "builds peace, hope and the future also thanks to the support of so many donors whose trust is reciprocated with concrete investments and realized projects. From a sprout of peace, a voice of justice and hope has been born."
Â
The Foundation is part of the Mare Nostrum Network that coordinates the Mediterranean Youth Council established in 2023 as a sign work of the Mediterranean Bishops' Conference and promoted by the Italian Church. Also part of the Mare Nostrum Network, along with the John Paul II Foundation, are the Giorgio La Pira Foundation, the Opera per la Gioventù Giorgio La Pira ODV and the Giorgio La Pira International Student Center; the Italian Bishops' Conference has entrusted them with the implementation of the project.
Photo: Damiano Bettoni by Pope Leo XIV - @VaticanNews