15 October 2023
Crowds of visitors to the Museum of Peace and the United States of the World for the centenary of Italo Calvino's birth.
On this occasion, the most important works and interviews with the great writer, a protagonist in the history of Italian literature, were shown on large video screens.
Visitors were given a copy of Enrica Maria Ferrara's book "Calvino and the Sea of the Other", published by the Fondazione Mediterraneo.
12 October 2023
At the Museum of Peace, the 17th anniversary of the ascent to heaven of Blessed Carlo Acutis was celebrated in the dedicated chapel with the relic of Blessed Carlo Acutis.
Carlo Acutis was named "Ambassador to the Memory of the United States of the World" on 30 June 2023.
12 October 2023
A ceremony was held at the headquarters of the United States of the World and the Museum of Peace to mark the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the "Academy of the Mediterranean" - an autonomous section of the United States of the World - in Naples on 10 October 1998.
Secretary-General Michele Capasso underlined the importance of the institution desired by 35 Euro-Mediterranean countries and the fundamental role it has played in this quarter of a century to promote peace and dialogue in the Euro-Mediterranean region and the world.
08 October 2023
The "United States of the World" and the "Fondazione Mediterraneo", present with their network for humanitarian initiatives, launch from Gaza a heartfelt appeal for an end to the war actions that began with Hamas' senseless assault on Israel.
Blind faith in force has destroyed all compassion, rejected all dialogue, and is proudly advancing in Gaza amidst the ruins and deaths of hundreds of civilians as well as in so many villages in Israel amidst the fear and casualties of more than 3,000 rockets from Gaza.
Europe and the governments of the West, just as they were mute when the holocaust of the Jews was being prepared and perpetrated, now tergiversate with empty words, waiting until, the fighting over, the victor grants them the semblance of having brokered peace.
It is up to civil society to rise up and say enough!
To say loud and clear that human values, which are the hard-won achievement of its history and the glory of its culture, must always be respected, now and immediately, in Gaza, in Tel Aviv, in Jerusalem and everywhere in the world.
"With broken hearts," say the United States of the World, "we witness yet another resumption of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The many efforts we have made, the many appeals spread all over the world, the meetings in our headquarters in Naples with Shimon Peres, Arafat, Abu Mazen, Mubarak and other exponents of the Arab countries had led to concrete progress in the peace process. The United States of the World has always proposed itself as an institutional place for dialogue, concretely analysing prospects for resolving the conflict in order to build shared peace responses".
MEMBERS OF THE UNITED STATES OF THE WORLD AT THE OPENING OF THE 16TH ORDINARY GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE SYNOD OF BISHOPS
05 October 2023
The 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops opened in the Vatican, whose work will end at the end of October 2023.
Pope Francis also opened to listen to lay people and exponents of civil society: among them some members of the "United States of the World" and the "Fondazione Mediterraneo".
"The Synod is neither a parliament nor a customs". The Pope repeated this several times during the Mass that opened the Synod of Bishops on St. Francis Day, 4 October, with the participation with voting rights of other members of the People of God. And in the afternoon he reiterated this in his address to the synod fathers gathered in the Paul VI Hall.
Pope Francis insisted that one should not look at this assembly as a place of confrontation on this or that issue ("open certain doors," he added in passing), but as a walk together to listen to God. "We are at the opening of the Synodal Assembly," he recalled, "and we do not need an immanent gaze, made up of human strategies, political calculations or ideological battles. "We are not here to conduct a parliamentary meeting or a reform plan. No. We are here to walk together with the gaze of Jesus, who blesses the Father and welcomes all those who are weary and oppressed. Let us therefore start from the gaze of Jesus, which is a blessing and welcoming gaze".
30 September 2023
Great emotion and celebration for don Ángel Fernández Artime, 10th successor of Don Bosco, who this morning, 30 September 2023, was officially created Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church by Pope Francis.
This is a great joy for all of us, for the Foundation and for the United States of the World, which has found in Don Angel one of its first supporters, as confirmed by the many visits and joint initiatives, including the World Salesian Oratory and the Chapel with the relics of Don Bosco and Mother Mazzarello that he set up at our Peace Museum in Naples.
Happy journey, Dear Angel !
ITALIAN INSTITUTE FOR THE FUTURE (IFF) CELEBRATES ITS 10TH ANNIVERSARY AT THE UNITED STATES OF THE WORLD HEADQUARTERS
28 September 2023
The Italian Institute for the Future - a member of the SUM network - celebrated its tenth anniversary in the headquarters of the United States of the World and the Museum of Peace. On this occasion, an international meeting took place with several round tables: among them the one dedicated to "Future (IM)POSSIBLES of the South", "Future (IM)POSSIBLES: Living on the Edge of Chaos" and others.
A 'Futuristic Aperitif' was held at the end.
In his address, Secretary-General Michele Capasso warned against the use of artificial intelligence if it is not related to Man, who must ALWAYS be at the centre of every action.
26 September 2023
A delegation from the United States of the World and the Fondazione Mediterraneo attended the secular funeral of the President Emeritus of the Italian Republic Giorgio Napolitano, held for the first time in history at Montecitorio, the seat of the Chamber of Deputies.
"It was a very touching moment," commented President Michele Capasso, "because in the nine speeches that followed, an exhaustive portrait was made of the politician, the statesman, the man of culture, the grandfather, the father. It was nice to see the protagonists of the last decades, many of them friends or members of our Foundation: from President Emeritus of Portugal Cavaco SIlva to Francois Hollande, from Cardinal Ravasi to Antonio Bassolino and so on for a long list'.
After the ceremony, the body was buried in Rome's non-Catholic cemetery.
22 September 2023
The Secretary General Michele Capasso, the Council of Ambassadors, the members of the Governing Board, the International Committee, and the heads of the autonomous sections and branch offices express their deep condolences on the passing of Giorgio Napolitano.
A dear friend, Giorgio Napolitano, who always supported our Foundation and was even closer as President of the Italian Republic.
A great pro-European with the awareness that Europe had to transform itself into UNITED STATES OF EUROPE and look at the Mediterranean not as a frontier but as an opportunity for exchanges of knowledge, cultures and know-how.
How can we not remember the discussions on politics "from below", which had to be the foundation of every Party and every aggregation, and his visit in February 2000 to the headquarters of the Fondazione Mediterraneo with the late Andrea Geremicca!
And then the singular way in which his election was announced in Algiers: as President of the Republic (see page 23 onwards): https://www.fondazionemediterraneo.org/.../nostro.../01.pdf
Giorgio Napolitano's example will guide us through this difficult time in history.
22 September 2023
On the occasion of the 29th anniversary of Gustavo Rol's ascent to heaven, events commemorating the Enlightened Man, Artist and Thinker, creator of the United States of the World, were held at the United States of the World headquarters and the MAMT Museum of Peace.