ConflictMedioEast Tag

John Paul II Foundation / Posts tagged "ConflictMedioOrient"

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Magazine, News
February 23, 2024

"The human capacity to carve out a niche for oneself, to secrete a shell, to erect around oneself a tenuous barrier of defense even in seemingly desperate circumstances is astounding and deserves a more in-depth study" (P. Levi, "If This is a Man. The Truce," 1958). The amazement at how human beings manage, in spite of everything, to survive in extreme contexts such as those of a war and somehow even "accept" its dramatic consequences becomes even greater when the object of our reflection is children. We wonder where they derive the strength to go through such an experience without permanently collapsing; yet, except in limited cases, children who have gone through the atrocities of war do not go "out of their minds." Most of the time, these children even seem to us better, more helpful, more mature than they are in "normal" situations. This incredible ability to adapt can lead us adults to underestimate the...

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Magazine, News
February 23, 2024

Daydreaming is the faculty of the mind that spontaneously recreates experiences and experiences, immersing itself in another reality. Children possess a vivid imagination; they invent characters and stories by experiencing them as if they were real. As they grow up they understand the difference between reality and the imaginary-a friendly world, a free, open land, harmony with nature. Sometimes reality seems threatening, intrusive, difficult to understand and deal with. But when reality does NOT seem but IS, what tools come to the rescue of the imagination, the dream? Where to wander with the mind, retreat to an imaginary world and find refuge from the fears, loneliness, dangers that are about to extinguish any relationship with what was familiar to us until yesterday? This brief reflection accompanied us on the difficult, uncertain, challenging path of helping the children of Bethlehem today in danger and tomorrow likely victims of the reality that is erasing all imaginary fantasy and smiles or made orphans by violence...

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Magazine
February 23, 2024

Father Michael Piccirillo (1944-2008), in addition to being a Franciscan friar of the Custody of the Holy Land, was a world-renowned archaeologist. In 2018 an initiative bearing his name was launched in Bethlehem: the Piccirillo Handicraft Center. Located a stone's throw from Nativity Square, the center makes its workshops available to artisans in the area. That's right, because Bethlehem is famous for olive wood, mother-of-pearl and ceramic handicrafts. A tradition brought to the Holy Land five centuries ago by Franciscan friars, with the aim of creating employment for the Christian minority. An artistic work - numerous Bethlehemite mother-of-pearl objects can be found in the world's most prestigious museums - that has to contend with the war events that drive pilgrims away from the Holy Land. One of today's many challenges is passing on this artisanal savoir-faire to new generations. This is one of the goals of the project "Piccirillo Handicraft...

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Magazine
February 21, 2024

Bethlehem is the city where baby Jesus was born, it is the city of children, even for us, who when we enter to visit the Basilica of the Nativity feel the excitement, which we felt as children when Christmas was approaching. Today we struggle to breathe the air of Christmas, which all year round accompanies life in Bethlehem. Five months after the beginning of the atrocious and inhumane conflict between Israel and Hamas, which has seen the death and injury of thousands and thousands of children, our children are also paying the consequences of this war. They have been deprived, from the rhythm of everyday life. They are locked together with their families inside the city with the inability to get out of the city and fear has settled in their hearts, fear when they heard the missiles pass over the city of Bethlehem, the sound is so loud that it terrifies young and old alike. Try to...

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Magazine, News
January 17, 2024

"The situation in Israel and Palestine is very complex, difficult, getting worse with each passing day. The war is spreading to the whole Middle East. We must strongly call for peace, for an immediate cease-fire," these were the first words of Father Ibrahim Faltas, vicar of the Custody of the Holy Land, speaking in Florence at an evening of reflection on the situation in the Middle East. The meeting sponsored by Alessandro Tonelli, president of the Rotary Club of Fiesole and Andrea Bottinelli, president of the John Paul II Foundation was attended by many Rotary Clubs in the Florence area. More than 200 people crowded the auditorium of the Innovation Center, built on the Florentine lungarni, recovering the ancient Granaio dell'Abbondanza, built in 1695 for Grand Duke Cosimo III dei Medici. Participants in the evening included the secretary general of the Chamber of Commerce, Giuseppe Salvini, entrepreneur Giammarco Piacenti, the president of the Order of Journalists of Tuscany, Giampaolo Marchini, the director of the Cassa di Risparmio Foundation,...

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Conversations, Magazine
October 26, 2023

The difficult and complicated times we are experiencing in these weeks after the inhumane attack carried out by Hamas toward Israeli civilians and the Israeli army's disproportionate and unjustifiable response toward the people of Gaza will certainly not be resolved by siding with the Israeli people or the Palestinian people. Yet all those who care about the future and the coexistence of peoples are aware that without paving the way toward the construction of two states, that small territory in our world will become the place of greatest destabilization and a human powder keg capable of breaking the already unstable balance in the Middle East, the antechamber to a war of incalculable proportions and consequences for the entire planet. The history that has passed through a land so cherished and loved by Christians, Jews and Muslims over the past 70 years is, in each of its events and occurrences, the true witness to the inability so far...

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Conversations, Magazine
October 24, 2023

My name is Christine, I am Palestinian, born and raised in Bethlehem. A few years ago I came to Italy to continue my studies and participate in a project related to conflict management and peace building. I participated in this project because I believed and still believe that peace can be built in Palestine, but to make peace first justice must be done. I have experienced wars since I was a child, I have seen the suffering, sadness, anger, resistance and strength of my people. I vividly remember the second intifada and the beginning of the construction of the apartheid wall. I lived through the Israeli occupation and the absence of freedom it caused. In Palestine to say there is no freedom is not rhetoric, it is reality. We cannot move independently from one city to another without Israel's permission. We cannot travel all the roads because some are reserved for Israelis and...

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Conversations, Magazine
October 23, 2023

Stefano Zecchi: Florentine, politician, writer and journalist has always lived in Florence. His efforts in recent years have been aimed at publicizing writers and books, through presentations that are never trivial and always well attended and in interviews, here we publish an interview of his with Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, who are holding prominent positions in the political, cultural, and ecclesial scene in Italy. Cardinal Matteo Zuppi talks about the search for peace "We look for what unites to solve what divides. Preparing the dialogue is almost more important than the dialogue itself, a bit like creating the system that can then allow the solution to be found." In his Bologna we met with Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, President of the Italian Bishops' Conference, who despite his countless commitments welcomed us with his fraternal, helpful style, a style that conveys credibility and hope. With him we addressed some issues of close relevance. Bishop Matteo, this year has been...

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Magazine
October 23, 2023

Florence, October 19, 2023 The John Paul II Foundation, which has been working with cooperation and peace projects in many countries in the Middle East for more than twenty-five years, joins Father Bernardo Gianni's appeal. Last night the Franciscan youth, led by Fr. Matteo Brena, invited to prayer in the Church of San Salvatore al Monte alle Croci, and many responded. On Monday it is Father Bernardo who asks us to climb the "mountain of peace" again, together in silence to ask for peace.We make Father Bernardo's words our own. "I invite you therefore, in these dark hours of anguish, bewilderment and motivated concern for the future not only of that or that other region of our planet, but for the future of the entire human family, to face Monday evening the ascent that leads to this mountain: we will have no words to utter, no slogans to shout, no banners to display: our faces, our...

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