#BeHuman event for a global pact on fraternity

By Alessandro De Carolis

A rountable for peace gathering those who have contributed to building peace in our recent history by challenging the manipulation of truth by power, fighting the spread of devices such as anti-personnel mines, fighting for the rights of indigenous people, women and many others. And another roundtable with children meeting with Pope Francis to convey hope in a world that has not yet learned to live in fraternity.

These will be the two highlights of the second World Meeting on Human Fraternity (WMHF), to take place on May 10-11 under the title #BeHuman.

Seeking alternatives to war and poverty

The event, organized by the Fratelli Tutti Foundation,  includes  12 scheduled thematic panels held in various sites in Rome and Vatican City State (all open to the public and some broadcast in live streaming), that will discuss several topics, including environment and businesses, sport and no-profit sector, information and work, health and digital, education, local administrations, food safety, all with a focus on human fraternity.

30 Nobel Peace Prize winners will dialogue with scientists, economists, doctors, managers, workers, sports champions and ordinary citizens from across the world, to seek together “alternatives to wars and poverty and “understand where the principle of fraternity is already present in social life and discern the parameters necessary to measure it".

Pope Francis joining the Children's Roundtable

The highlight of the second day will be Pope Francis joining the roundtable “Children: Future Generation” at 5 pm Rome time– which can be followed in live streaming from our portal.

The opening event, also live streamed on Vatican News, will see the presence of Cardinal Pietro Parolin with a speech at the Peace table, surrounded by top representatives of the major international organizations and some Nobel Prize winners, including Dmitrji Muratov, Jody Williams, Tawakkol Karman, Maria Ressa, Leymah Gbowee, Rigoberta Menchù Tum and Muhammad Yunus. All of them will be received in audience by Pope Francis on Saturday morning and then they will be at the Quirinale for a meeting with the Italian president, Sergio Mattarella.

Music notes for peace

The two-day meeting will conclude with an event in the portico of St. Peter's Basilica featuring composer  Giovanni Allevi, Italian singer Roberto Vecchioni and the American country icon Garth Brooks . The event will close at 9.30 pm on Saturday, with St. Peter's Basilica as its backdrop.