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THE POPE IN CAMEROON MAKES AN APPEAL: “THERE IS A HUNGER FOR PEACE”
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15 April 2026
A delegation from the “United States of the World” and the “Mediterranean Foundation” is taking part in the main events in Cameroon to mark the visit of Pope Leo XIV. The Pope meets over one hundred thousand people representing the people of Cameroon and of that “plundered” Africa, as he himself described it, repeating Christ’s question to his disciples in the passage on the multiplication of the loaves and fishes: This is the Gospel proclaimed at Mass in Douala, the economic capital with four million inhabitants, overlooking the ocean, an hour’s flight from Yaoundé, which the Pontiff is visiting on his apostolic journey through four nations of the continent. By car, Leo XIV travels along the main road that cuts through the shanty towns that plague Africa. He passes between the wooden shacks and the families living on the barren land. Then he arrives at the “Japoma Stadium” in the “Africa Cup of Nations” sports complex, where he celebrates the Eucharist. The heat is scorching. And in the popemobile, he makes his way through the crowd amidst singing and dancing. During the liturgy, Leo XIV quotes the question from Scripture which, he says, today “is addressed to those who bear the social and political responsibility of looking after the people and their welfare”. And they have the duty to respond to the “hunger of the people” that humiliates a large part of humanity, he denounces. “A hunger for peace, for freedom, for justice,” he is keen to emphasise. And a hunger for “food” that is “rationed in times of emergency”, “stolen in times of strife”, “wasted by those who gorge themselves whilst others have nothing to eat”. The alternative to greed is the “miracle” of “sharing”, as the Pope calls it in his homily delivered in both French and English. And he warns: “There is bread for everyone if it is given to everyone. There is bread for everyone if it is taken not with a hand that grasps, but with a hand that gives”.
Of course, explains Leo XIV, ‘the food that nourishes the body must be combined with equal charity with the nourishment of the soul’. Because ‘many experience poverty, both material and spiritual’, he says, addressing young people. And he reserves a special word of encouragement for them: “Do not give in to mistrust and discouragement; reject all forms of abuse and violence, which deceive by promising easy gains but harden the heart and make it insensitive. Be protagonists of the future, following the vocation that God gives to each of you, without allowing yourselves to be bought by temptations that squander your energies and do not serve the progress of society’. He points to Floribert Bwana Chui as an example for them, the young Congolese man of Sant’Egidio who was martyred for opposing corruption and was the first person to be beatified during the pontificate of Leo XIV.
THE UNITED STATES OF THE WORLD AND THE FONDAZIONE MEDITERRANEO SHOW SOLIDARITY WITH POPE LEO XIV
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13 April 2026
The Council of Ambassadors of the United States of the World and the Executive Board of the Fondazione Mediterraneo have expressed their full solidarity with Pope Leo XIV, condemning President Donald Trump’s attack as unacceptable and wholly inappropriate for a representative of the Catholic faith.
POPE LEO XIV IN ALGERIA TO BUILD BRIDGES AND FOSTER DIALOGUE
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13 April 2026
A delegation from the “United States of the World” and the “Mediterranean Foundation” took part in the various events during Pope Leo XIV’s visit to Algeria, in the capital Algiers and in Annaba, the city of St Augustine.
“A blessed visit” - with these words, the Pontiff thanked the Algerian authorities and the “small but significant” local Church, reaffirming the relevance of St Augustine’s message to “seek unity among all peoples and mutual respect despite differences”, and recalled his visit to the Great Mosque of Algiers: “Despite different beliefs and different ways of praying, we can live together in peace.”
The Holy Father recalled the “special visits” he made on 13 and 14 April to the Basilica of Notre-Dame d’Afrique in Algiers and to the Basilica of Saint Augustine in Annaba, on the hill overlooking the modern city and the ruins of the ancient Roman city of Hippo. According to the Pontiff, all this has “great symbolic value”, because Saint Augustine, Bishop of Hippo for more than thirty years, “is a figure from the past who speaks to us of tradition, who speaks to us of the life of the Church in the early centuries of its development”, yet, at the same time, remains an “extremely important figure even today”.
Secretary-General Capasso states: “St Augustine’s writings, teaching, spirituality, and call to seek God and the truth are the message we so desperately need in today’s world; a message that is highly relevant not only to all of us believers but also to every person.”
For a Pope who immediately declared himself a “son of Saint Augustine”, it was therefore “a special grace” to be able to return to Annaba and “offer to the Church and to the world” the vision of the great Father of the Church: “That of the search for God and the effort to build community, to seek unity among all peoples and mutual respect despite differences”.
THE “GLOBAL SUMUD FLOTILLA” OUTSIDE THE HEADQUARTERS OF THE “UNITED STATES OF THE WORLD”
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11 April 2026
The Global Sumud Flotilla, an international mission to deliver aid to Gaza, stopped off in Naples with around 18–20 vessels moored at Mergellina, outside the headquarters of the “United States of the World” and the “Mediterranean Foundation”.
The activists, part of the “Freedom Flotilla Coalition”, stopped in the Campania capital before continuing on to Calabria and the eastern Mediterranean to challenge the naval blockade.
Coming from Marseille, the “Thousand Madeleines to Gaza” mission aims to deliver humanitarian aid, with crews comprising activists, doctors and nurses, supported by a local “land fleet”.
The fleet’s presence sparked rallies and demonstrations of support in the centre of Naples, with hundreds of people gathering in Piazza del Plebiscito and Piazza Sannazaro.
“The stopover was one of the main Italian ports of call before the Mediterranean crossing, confirming Naples as a central hub for humanitarian and protest initiatives in support of Gaza,” said Secretary-General Michele Capasso, on a solidarity visit to the fleet members, to whom he described the aid initiatives launched since 2023 by the United States of the World for the people of Gaza.
THE POWER OF PEACE
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01 April 2026
From Beijing (CIECC), the Secretary General of the "United States of the World," Professor Michele Capasso, launched yet another heartfelt Appeal for World Peace, recalling the warning of Gustavo Adolfo Rol, who, as early as 1987, warned humanity of the risks of a process of self-destruction caused by wars, conflicts, and the destruction of creation.
The Appeal emphasizes that "Democracy is a high expression of legitimate power only if it respects ethical and moral rules. Otherwise - as is unfortunately happening in the United States of America led by President Trump - the risk is that it will transform into a 'tyranny of the majority' or a 'domination of economic and technological elites.'"
"The great, irreplaceable value of democracy is the free choice to elect those who govern and replace them peacefully when their mandate expires. The danger," the text reads, "is the self-aggrandizement of Power that fuels a suicidal selfishness, contaminating all of humanity".
THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF RELATIONS BETWEEN THE KING OF MOROCCO AND THE HOLY SEE
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25 March 2026
A meeting was held in Rome, in the main hall of the Gregorian University, to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of relations between the Kingdom of Morocco and the Holy See.
Guests of the Moroccan Ambassador to the Holy See, Rajae Naji El Mekkaoui, included Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State of the Holy See, and André Azoulay, adviser to King Mohammed VI of Morocco, who had previously been received by Pope Leo XIV.
The Secretary-General of the United States of the World, Michele Capasso, recalled the long-standing relations between Morocco and the Holy See and the fraternal friendship with Cardinal Pietro Parolin and André Azoulay.
“On this occasion,” said Capasso, “I wish to highlight Morocco’s role in interreligious and intercultural dialogue and the great vision of King Hassan II in viewing religious differences as a resource rather than a threat”.
TEACHERS AND STUDENTS FROM THE “ENRICO DE NICOLA” SECONDARY SCHOOL IN NAPLES VISIT THE “UNITED STATES OF THE WORLD” AND THE MUSEUM OF PEACE
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23 March 2026
Students and teachers of the “Enrico De Nicola” High School in Naples visited the headquarters of the “United States of the World” and the Peace Museum.
Welcomed by Secretary-General Michele Capasso, they retraced the key milestones of the “United States of the World” with the appeal by Gustavo Adolfo Rol.
There was great emotion during the tour of the main emotional exhibits: from Molinari the Sculptor to the Totem of Peace, from the Mosque to the chapels dedicated to Saint Charbel, Saint Carlo Acutis, Don Bosco, Padre Pio, Madre Teresa, San Giovanni Paolo II, Don Diana, Pino Daniele.
At the end, on the terrace, the cry rang out: “Peace is the Way”.
THE TOTEM OF PEACE CAPTIVATES TEACHERS AND STUDENTS AT THE “ENRICO DE NICOLA” SECONDARY SCHOOL IN NAPLES
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23 March 2026
Students and teachers from the “Enrico De Nicola” Secondary School in Naples visited the emotional exhibition dedicated to the “Totem of Peace” by sculptor Mario Molinari, a symbol of the United States of the World.
Welcomed by Secretary-General Michele Capasso, they retraced the key stages of the “Totem of Peace”’s long journey.
At the conclusion, standing before the “Totem of Peace” on the terrace, they shouted “Peace is the Way”.
WORLD WATER DAY 2026
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22 March 2026
As they do every year, the United States of the World and the Fondazione Mediterraneo celebrated "World Water Day" in various cities across the five continents.
In particular, at the organisation’s headquarters in Naples, Secretary-General Michele Capasso emphasised the urgent need to protect water resources, especially at this difficult time in human history, marked by wars, pandemics, social injustices and climate change.
The scientists present relaunched the “Appeal of the United States of the World” for universal cooperation capable of reducing the disasters caused by drought, using examples of good practice such as technologies for the desalination of seawater
31ST DAY OF REMEMBRANCE AND COMMITMENT
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21 March 2026
A delegation from “Stati Uniti del Mondo” and the “Fondazione Mediterraneo”, led by Pia and Jacopo Molinari, took part in the 31st Day of Remembrance and Commitment, organised by Don Luigi Ciotti’s Libera. Under the slogan “Hunger for Truth and Justice”, the event commemorated the more than 1,100 innocent victims of the mafia with a procession and the reading of their names, emphasising the fight against the mafia in the North and against gambling.
“We are hungry for truth and justice,” said Don Ciotti, with particular attention to the mafia’s stronghold in the northern regions.
Despite an unexpected bout of seasonal illness reported on the day itself, Don Ciotti opened the event by emphasising the importance of moving from remembrance to concrete commitment to social justice.
“Remembrance is not a solitary act; it is a shared commitment that unites stories, names and lives cut short.” It is by virtue of this shared commitment that, on the occasion of the 31st National Day of Remembrance and Commitment in memory of the innocent victims of the mafia, the “United States of the World” and the “Mediterranean Foundation” organised a special day dedicated to young people, held at the Naples branch of the Museum of Peace.
On this occasion, Michele Capasso and Pia Molinari recalled their friendship with Don Luigi Ciotti and their full endorsement of his commitment.