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TEN YEARS SINCE THE KIDNAPPING OF FATHER PAOLO DALL'OGLIO
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29 July 2023
The United States of the World with the Fondazione Mediterraneo and the Academy of the Mediterranean commemorated founding member Father Paolo Dall'Oglio on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of his abduction in Raqqa on 29 July 2013.
Founder of the monastic community of Deir Mar Musa, Father Paolo is a tireless witness to peace and dialogue between the different religious denominations in Syria.
"Ten years have passed since his kidnapping, - said Secretary-General Michele Capasso, a close friend of Father Paolo, - and so many are the memories and actions that have marked years of collaboration for dialogue and peace. I am still moved today remembering when, in order to convince Muslims and Catholics to dialogue at a difficult time of clashes and controversies, I disguised myself as Father Christmas to defuse the tension: Paolo understood and, with a complicit look, urged me to continue. Paolo did not like to tell himself stories, and when we awarded him the Mediterranean Award he hugged us tightly, saying that this recognition was for the entire monastic community and not for him".
On this occasion, the message of the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella was read out:
"Ten years have passed since the kidnapping in Syria of Father Paolo Dall'Oglio. Since then, no news has been able to refresh the hope of his survival. On this day that renews the pain and, with it, the memory of a generous man who gave all of himself to solidarity, dialogue, and helping those most in need, I wish to express my deepest feelings of closeness to his family and to those who share with them the agony of waiting.
Paolo Dall'Oglio, a witness and builder of peace, has ensured that his religious faith has never been expressed as a reason for conflict. His life has always been an unceasing drive to seek sharing, encounter, justice, unity, in the name of the person, of every person, of his integrity, of his inviolable dignity. He has challenged prejudices and regimes, lived with the poorest, courageously travelled the deserts and territories of conflict, hatred, oppression, to bring hope and humanity.
However helpless they may appear, peace witnesses are protagonists of history. The memory of their presence and their passage must be kept alive, even more so at a time when the wounds of war are bloodying the Middle East and our Europe"
Videos, documents and images of meetings with Father Paul from 1998 to the last one in 2013 were shown.
"BENEDETTO CROCE" NATIONAL AWARD IN PESCASSEROLI, PRIDE OF THE UNITED STATES OF THE WORLD
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28 July 2023
Pescasseroli is increasingly becoming a cultural centre and the "pride" of the "United States of the World" for having understood its message since 2010 by creating the monumental work "Totem for Peace", symbol of the United States of the World.
In the Council Chamber of the Municipality of Pescasseroli, in the presence of Mayors and authorities of the Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park Community - many of them "Ambassadors" and " Standard Bearers" of the United States of the World - the Minister of Culture Gennaro Sangiuliano inaugurated the 18th edition of the Benedetto Croce National Culture Award.
It is the culmination of a journey that takes place throughout the year, in various places in Abruzzo and in the classrooms of schools, where students and teachers read and express their opinions on the selected books, which were then presented to the members of the jury.
"The Croce Prize is a historical journey - said Pescasseroli's mayor Giuseppe Sipari, introducing the meeting - it is a true cultural journey, itinerant, that has touched several cities and involved dozens of student populations, making it an excellent vehicle for reading for young people. Therefore, not just a celebratory event, but a meeting that restores importance to the topicality of Croce's thought and its modernity".
"Pescasseroli is an extraordinary centre of cultural vitality - said Secretary-General Michele Capasso, who has been frequenting the Abruzzo resort for over 45 years - here culture goes hand in hand with nature".
Among the prize-winners was journalist and writer Titti Marrone - a long-standing supporter of the Fondazione Mediterraneo and the United States of the World - with her book "Se solo il mio cuore fosse pietra".
Minister Sangiuliano said: "Why Croce? His cultural action is a hymn to the freedom of people, it is a recognition of the value of the human, through culture that makes us better and makes our whole society better".
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON DEVELOPMENT AND MIGRATION IN ROME. COMMITMENTS AND SHARED SOLUTIONS FOR THE MEDITERRANEAN AND AFRICA
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23 July 2023
At the initiative of the Italian Government, the leaders of almost all states on the southern shore of the wider Mediterranean, in the Middle East and the Gulf, as well as EU Member States of first arrival and a number of partners from the Sahel and the Horn of Africa, together with the heads of European institutions and international financial institutions, met at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in Rome today, to address emergencies and launch a shared development strategy. Following the working sessions, President of the Council of Ministers Giorgia Meloni held a press conference
Conference objectives:
- Launching an international road map for the implementation of concrete measures for growth and development in the wider Mediterranean and Africa;
- Addressing the root causes of irregular migration flows to defeat human traffickers’ criminal activities;
- Finding solutions to protect the environment, meeting the challenges of energy diversification and climate change.
This is a foreign policy initiative where Italy will exercise its key role in the wider Mediterranean, with the aim of launching a multi-year road map, with concrete and verifiable commitments by the participating States on development and migration.
The Conference is another step as part of the Meloni Government’s wide-ranging diplomatic efforts to deal with the emergencies with an integrated approach that aims to build a multidimensional and long-term partnership of equals, based on solidarity among nations, respect for their sovereignty and shared responsibility.
The Conference aims to govern the migration phenomenon, combat human trafficking and promote economic development based on a new model of collaboration between states, by jointly planning and implementing initiatives and projects in six main sectors: agriculture; energy; infrastructure; education and training; health; water and hygiene.
The Conference format involves the leaders of almost all states on the southern shore of the wider Mediterranean, in the Middle East and the Gulf, as well as EU Member States of first arrival and a number of partners from the Sahel and the Horn of Africa, together with the heads of European institutions and international financial institutions. Nations of origin, of transit and of first arrival in Europe, and partners such as the Gulf Cooperation Council states.
VOLUNTEERING A VALUABLE ASSET
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15 July 2023
The United States of the World with the Fondazione Mediterraneo participated in the meeting on the theme "Volunteering as a precious asset" organised by "Padua European Capital of Volunteering", a founding member of the United States of the World.
On this occasion, the text of the amendment to the Third Sector Code was presented, an important turning point for voluntary associations that have long had to deal with suffocating bureaucracy. In Padua, advantage was taken of this occasion to take stock of the strategy to prepare the specifications that will be used to present the candidature of these organisations as World Heritage Sites, with the support of the 'United States of the World'.
There was also agreement on the need to establish a network of volunteer associations that looks to Europe and the world and is based on being-doing and being-change, with a more modern approach. Modern volunteering must be an agent of change and can no longer just stand by and watch.
THE SACRO CUORE INSTITUTE AND THE CIOFS ASSOCIATION OF RUVO DI PUGLIA VISIT THE UNITED STATES OF THE WORLD AND THE MUSEUM OF PEACE
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06 July 2023
Students and teachers from the "Sacro Cuore" Salesian Institute and the CIOFS/FP training school in Ruvo di Puglia visited the headquarters of the "United States of the World" and the "Museum of Peace", accompanied by the Director Sister Liberata.
Guided by the Secretary-General, they retraced the main institutional and emotional paths.
At the end, the students and teachers, in accordance with the resolution of the International Committee of the "United States of the World", were appointed " Standard Bearers of the United States of the World".
THE TOTEM OF PEACE ATTRACTS VISITORS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD
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04 July 2023
The "Totem for Peace" by sculptor Mario Molinari - symbol of the United States of the World - is visited by travellers from five continents. The piece made in the Port of Naples, inaugurated by Pope Francesco on 21 March 2015 and containing the urn of the Unknown Migrant, is a destination for visitors who linger to understand the importance of the symbol and the value of the urn.
A CLAP OF HANDS FOR GRANDMOTHER BETTA
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02 July 2023
Elisabetta Baldi Caponnetto, widow of Judge Antonino Caponnetto, has ascended to heaven.
To all of us she was simply "Grandmother Betta," as was "Grandfather Nino."
The United States of the World and the Fondazione Mediterraneo remember a woman who had taken up her husband's meritorious and courageous battle and over the years had gone to great lengths to meet boys and girls in schools, with the aim of spreading an anti-mafia culture among the new generations.
How can we fail to remember the visit to her home to present the "Mediterranean Award for Legality" to the memory of Nonno Nino and her delicacy in placing the "Totem for Peace, the Award, among her most cherished things.
And then the many meetings, the generosity in writing the preface to the volume "La Grande Méditerranée," the meeting at the Senate with President Pietro Grasso to support the "United States of the World" and the "Totem for Peace."
His example and spirit will remain as an inspiration and motivation for all of us and for those engaged in the front lines of the fight against all mafias.
AT THE MUSEUM OF PEACE THE RELIC OF BLESSED CARLO ACUTIS
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30 June 2023
The mother of Blessed Carlo Acutis, Antonia Salzano Acutis, donated a relic of her son to the Museum of Peace during a simple ceremony with President Michele Capasso.
The Museum will host a room dedicated to Carlo with exhibits, videos and testimonies of the young man who dedicated his short life to Jesus with the motto "God not me".
THE STANDARD BEARERS OF THE UNITED STATES OF THE WORLD PLANT THE OLIVE TREE OF PEACE AT THE "ALPI-LEVI" INSTITUTE IN SCAMPIA
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28 June 2023
The students of the Istituto Comprensivo "ALPI-LEVI" in Scampia, appointed "Standard bearers of the United States of the World", planted the "Olive Tree of Peace" in the garden of the Institute and the "Tommaso Campanella - Carlo Acutis" Plesso.
Shouting "Long live the United States of the World", the students shared the message of the "United States of the World" with the teachers present, president the Fondazione Mediterraneo Michele Capasso and Headmistress Rosalba Rotondo: for EARTH, for PEACE.
POLICE CHIEF GIULIANO VISITS THE UNITED STATES OF THE WORLD HEADQUARTERS AND THE MUSEUM OF PEACE
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24 June 2023
The Police Chief of Naples Alessandro Giuliano and his family visited the United States of the World Headquarters and the Museum of Peace, a World Heritage Site, welcomed by Secretary-General Michele Capasso and Director Pia Molinari.