Mediterranean Youth Council Plenary
PLENARY OF THE MEDITERRANEAN YOUTH COUNCIL
Between Fiesole, Florence and Rome, 34 delegates from countries bordering the "mare nostrum" to discuss peace, brotherhood, environment. Scheduled meetings at Palazzo Vecchio and in the Vatican with Pope Leo XIV
Thirty-four young people from Mediterranean countries are arriving in Fiesole: they will participate in the plenary of the Mediterranean Youth Council from Aug. 31 to Sept. 7, an appointment that brings together delegates designated by the Bishops' Conferences and Patriarchates of 20 countries bordering the "mare nostrum." They meet in presence for an intense week of work, meetings and moments of fraternity.
The Mediterranean Youth Council, established in 2023 as a sign work of the Mediterranean Bishops' Conference, is promoted by the Italian Church and coordinated by the "Mare Nostrum" Network, composed of the Giorgio La Pira Foundation, the Giovanni Paolo II 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.
In two years, its advisors have taken significant steps. They have taken important positions, with recognition even at the international level by meeting in 2024 with European Parliament Speaker Metsola and Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin. The Council has so far promoted several projects and others are being developed in the four thematic commissions with which the young delegates are engaged. Among the most recent actions is the "Caring-taking care" project for the promotion of twinning and mutual support among Mediterranean ecclesial communities; at the end of September the Twinning between the Diocese of Brindisi and the Apostolic Vicariate of Beirut will come to life. It was precisely in Beirut last July that the Photomarathon 2025 was held, with 20 young people of different religious faiths confronting each other through art on the themes of citizenship, interreligious dialogue, and generational change. In August, "A Place to Stand," an international camp with the participation of 130 young people from the Mediterranean and Eastern Europe, was promoted in Castiglione della Pescaia (GR).
Plenary 2025 is a further step in the shared journey of young people, who place themselves at the center of a future perspective for the ecclesial and civil communities of the Mediterranean. In fact, the founding of the Council directly recalls the figure of Giorgio La Pira, who - as mayor of Florence - at the height of the Cold War had envisioned a Europe that would include Russia all the way to the Urals and a pacified and cooperating Mediterranean, an interweaving of three continents and a propelling center of culture. That is why he had initiated the Mediterranean Colloquies, bringing together in Florence representatives of peoples washed by the same sea, brotherly peoples (Jews, Christians and Muslims) whose common cultural root is represented by the patriarch Abraham. A theme also dear to John Paul II, who hoped to overcome the internal divisions within Europe, the result of an ecumenical breath made "with two lungs": that of the Eastern Churches and that of the Western Churches.
The Plenary Program
The plenary week will begin on August 31: the boys and girls (ages 18-28) will be welcomed at the Fiesole Seminary. Msgr. Cesar Essayan, Apostolic Vicar of Beirut of the Latins, and Msgr. Jules Boutros, Syrian Catholic bishop of the Patriarchate of Antioch, will permanently participate. Greetings will be given by Dom Bernardo Gianni, Abbot of the Abbey of San Miniato al Monte.
On Sept. 2 from 4 to 6 p.m. the youth will be at Palazzo Vecchio in the Salone dei Duecento meeting with Mayor Sara Funaro who will bring greetings from the city of Florence, City Council President Cosimo Guccione and Patrizia Giunti, president of the Mare Nostrum Network. Three delegates from Lebanon, Spain and Malta will talk about peace, Mediterranean fraternity and the environment. Then from 7 p.m. they will meet Archbishop Msgr. Gherardo Gambelli at the "Giorgio La Pira" International Student Center.
On the evening of Sept. 4, they will move to Rome, where-after a moment of prayer with Msgr. Stefano Manetti, bishop of Fiesole-they will meet with CEI Secretary General Msgr. Giuseppe Baturi, Undersecretary Fr. Gianluca Marchetti and the head of the Youth Pastoral Service Fr. Riccardo Pinicerato.
On September 5, they will be at the Vatican for an audience with Pope Leo XIV and the Jubilee Pilgrimage.