Med 24 - Pilgrims of Hope. Builders of Peace
A delegation from the "United States of the World" and the "Fondazione Mediterraneo" took part in the fourth meeting on the reflection of the Churches of the Mare Nostrum, launched in Bari in 2020 and then continued in Florence in 2022 and Marseilles in 2023.
Well-educated young people oriented towards the spirit of fraternity can open unexpected doors of dialogue and contribute to the construction of a more just and peaceful world": these are the words of Pope Francis pronounced a year ago at the "Rencontres Méditerranéennes" (Med23) in Marseille. Following these indications of the Pontiff and moving forward along that same path of communion, from 15 to 21 September about fifty young people from twenty-five Mediterranean and Black Sea nations took part in Tirana, Albania, in the meeting "Med24 - Pilgrims of hope. Builders of peace".
It was a touching experience of life and faith that directed the organising committee's choice on Albania for this new edition of the Mediterranean encounters, which takes place, among other things, on the tenth anniversary of the Holy Father's visit to Tirana (21 September 2014). The motivation for choosing Tirana as the venue for the event also has to do with the multiple cultural and religious realities that the country contains. For this reason, the programme of Med24 (curated by the same committee as Med23 in Marseilles) touched on various aspects: cultural, spiritual and religious that bring the experience of the whole man in his variety and reality. The Archbishop of Tirana welcomed young people from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, the Middle East, Turkey, Armenia, Georgia, Romania, Greece, Croatia, Kosovo, Malta, France, Italy, Spain and, of course, Albania.
"The religious reality of Albania - said Secretary-General Michele Capasso - is never a reason for difference or rivalry and makes them united also as a people and this provides a model of real, peaceful, true coexistence, even in the diversity of each one. At a time when the Mediterranean appears confused between wars, conflicts and migrants who die in the sea, where young people sometimes lose their values, it is nice to see that in these young people there is a desire to come together, under the light of the Pope, who inspires them to look at the signs of the times that are also in this Mediterranean, and then, starting from Mare Nostrum, recreate peace and spread it throughout the world. As Giorgio La Pira used to say, there will be peace in the world if first of all there is peace in the Mediterranean".
