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From Feb. 23 to 27, the second "Mediterranean Frontier of Peace" meeting of reflection and spirituality was held in Florence. The meeting followed, and developed, the lines drawn at the meeting held in Bari in February 2020, when Pope Francis had entrusted an important "work of reconciliation and peace" to the Catholic bishops of the dioceses bordering the Mediterranean. The novelty of the second meeting was to have in Florence, on the same days, many Mediterranean mayors and ambassadors summoned by Florence Mayor Dario Nardella.

The mayors worked in the Palazzo Vecchio, while the bishops in the Dominican basilica of Santa Maria Novella. They then met together on Saturday, February 26 and Sunday, February 27. The purpose of the entire conference was the writing of a charter drafted together by the lay world and the bishops and patriarchs of the Catholic Churches. At the end of the week, a joint meeting was planned in the Palazzo Vecchio, with Pope Francis then meeting with some refugees, in the Sala d'Arme of the Palazzo Vecchio, and presiding at Mass in the basilica of Santa Croce. Unfortunately, worsening acute gonalgia forced Pope Francis to remain in the Vatican and not preside at a Eucharistic celebration on Sunday, Feb. 27.

The historic sites of Florentine politics and Christianity provided the setting for the event: the Dominican Basilica of Santa Maria Novella, where the Dominicans have been present for eight hundred years; Palazzo Vecchio, seat of the City Council; and the Franciscan Basilica of Santa Croce, which had hosted in October in 1955 the celebration of the Mass presided over by the then Archbishop of Florence, Cardinal Elia Dalla Costa, with the mayors summoned by Mayor La Pira to Palazzo Vecchio. The photo of the handshake between the mayor of Moscow and Archbishop Dalla Costa went around the world.

The city of Florence was chosen as the venue for the second conference by Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti, president of the Italian Bishops' Conference, precisely because of its history. In fact, in the 1950s and 1960s, the "Mediterranean Colloquies" were held in Florence, organized by Mayor Giorgio La Pira, now proclaimed Venerable by the Church, for the purpose of fostering international relations aimed at building peace and dialogue among the peoples living on the shores of the Mediterranean. In October 1955 La Pira convened in Florence's Palazzo Vecchio the mayors of the world's major cities precisely to address the issue of peace during the years of the Cold War.

In October 1986, Pope John Paul II, in the Angelus proclaimed from the churchyard of Santa Croce, promoted the values of intergenerational dialogue as he met the young people who packed the square. Therefore, starting from this legacy, the city was able to take up the "Bari" mandate and kick off the work.

Anyone who was fortunate enough to attend the conference from the premises of the basilica of Santa Maria Novella noted the atmosphere of great dialogue and brotherhood that animated the discussions among the bishops and patriarchs present.

Although, in fact, bishops and mayors were working in separate venues and on different issues, it appeared evident how these parallel lines were converging toward a single result, concretized in the Florence Charter. And it is precisely from this dialogue between bishops and mayors that the affirmations contained in the "Florence Charter," solemnly signed by Mayor Dario Nardella and Archbishop Gualtiero Bassetti, emerged.

Past and Present. At the opening of the proceedings, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi recalled the Mediterranean Colloquies, evoking the prophetic spirit and political insights of Giorgio La Pira, arguing that "the nations bordering the sea have a common destiny; that dialogue between the religions of Abraham [...] is necessary for the maintenance of peace." Like the Prime Minister, Mayor Nardella also quoted La Pira using a phrase still fundamental today: "uniting cities to unite nations." The Archbishop of Florence, Cardinal Giuseppe Betori, also recalled the importance of placing the "roots in the thought and work of Giorgio La Pira." In every conversation and press conference in Santa Maria Novella one could sense the constant reference to that ecumenical spirit well expressed by the Florentine administrations after World War II. It is no coincidence that the very first point of the Florence Charter explicitly mentions inspiration "from the legacy of Giorgio La Pira, the former Mayor of Florence, who in the 1950s promoted intercultural and interreligious dialogue among Cities, and in particular among the Cities of the Mediterranean."

Both bishops and mayors did not get carried away by nostalgic perspectives. On the contrary, past experience was always evoked as a strategic bridge to understand the complexities of the present and to design effective courses of action.

Also in this vein was the talk by Prof. Possieri of the University of Perugia, who urged the bishops to discuss the role of Christianity in cities to combat new loneliness and ancient discrimination, to spread peace in "faceless cities." Reflections on the centrality of the Mediterranean produced new considerations around the role peoples can play in interreligious dialogue, the development of shared education and the defense of environments at risk. Indeed, the Florence Charter recognizes "the importance of creating common university programs," of "promoting quality employment opportunities for disadvantaged groups (young people and women)," and calls for "governments to adopt certain and shared rules to protect the Mediterranean ecosystem in order to promote a circular Mediterranean culture in harmony with nature and our history."

Mediterranean and Europe. The second coordinate could only be geographical. During the days of work in the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella, tragic news was arriving from the East. Unfortunately, the crisis in Ukraine was escalating in those days to the point of invasion by Russia, and the bishops could only remain in attentive listening to the needs of the peoples of Eastern Europe.

That is why, even in light of the tragic invasion of Ukraine, there was no need in Santa Maria Novella to change the issues on the agenda, which on the contrary appeared even more urgent. The Florence Charter itself attests that mayors and bishops are aware of the fact "that the Mediterranean has historically been the crossroads of European and West Asian cultures, of the northern and southern hemispheres, and that it can play a crucial role in the peace and development of nations through cooperation among its cities and religious communities." Not only this: it also recognizes that "migration policies in the Mediterranean and on its borders must always respect fundamental human rights." In other words, Mediterranean is Europe and vice versa. Therefore, ensuring peace in the Mare Nostrum is an indispensable prerequisite for promoting an unarmed understanding among the countries of the Old Continent.

And it is in this sea - as Cardinal Bassetti pointed out in his homily on Sunday that concluded the conference - that the Gospel "took its first steps," contributing to the formation of a Europe deeply grafted onto the values of Christianity. "Even today," Bassetti continued, "[the Word of God] does not alienate us from reality, but on the contrary asks us to go to the heart of the problems and thus lay the foundations for a better world."