From 29 to 31 July, meetings and conferences animated by secondary school and university students from the Community in preparation for the gathering in Tor Vergata with Pope Leo XIV – Focus on the Congolese Blessed Floribert Bwana Chui, defender of the poor. Pilgrimages to the Memorial of the New Martyrs in San Bartolomeo all'Isola
Three days of meetings, conferences and pilgrimages organised by the Community of Sant'Egidio: students from all over Europe on their journey to meet Pope Leo XIV
From 29 to 31 July, meetings and conferences animated by secondary school and university students from the Community in preparation for the gathering in Tor Vergata with Pope Leo XIV – Focus on the Congolese Blessed Floribert Bwana Chui, defender of the poor. Pilgrimages to the Memorial of the New Martyrs in San Bartolomeo all'Isola
An intense week of friendship and encounter is expected for the thousands of young people arriving in Rome for the most eagerly awaited event of the Jubilee of Hope: the meeting in Tor Vergata with Pope Leo XIV, 25 years after the 2000 World Youth Day with John Paul II. In prep for this event, many moments of prayer and encounter have been organised by Giovani per la Pace (Youth for Peace), the movement linked to the Community of Sant'Egidio, which works every day with minors in difficulty, the homeless, refugees, and lonely elderly people, and is involved in sustainable solidarity projects with Ecolab of Peace. Hundreds of Youth for Peace, secondary school and university students from Rome, but even from different Italian and European cities, are set to tell their peers about the beauty of a life spent for the Gospel, at the service of the poor and peace.
A number of conferences have been planned to explore various themes in depth with experts, starting with that of the ‘new martyrs’. The story of Floribert Bwana Chui, the young man from the Community of Sant'Egidio in Goma, Congo, who was martyred in 2007 for opposing an attempt of corruption against the population and recently beatified, will be the subject of a conference tomorrow, Tuesday 29 July, at 11 a.m., in Trastevere, Via della Paglia 14b. Other events will operate from 30 July to 1 August, at 5 pm, in the same place, in the following order: ‘I was a stranger and you welcomed me’, ‘The peripheries of life - Children and the Elderly’ and ‘Blessed are the peacemakers’, while in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere, prayers for peace will be held from 30 July to 1 August at two different times: at 6pm and 8pm. On the same days, there will be celebrations in the square in front of the basilica.
During the Youth Jubilee, a large influx of pilgrims is also expected at the Memorial of the New Martyrs in San Bartolomeo all'Isola, which preserves the relics and memories of witnesses to religious belief in the 20th and 21st centuries. More than a thousand young people from all over the world have already booked to visit this place, which was commissioned by John Paul II and entrusted to the Community of Sant'Egidio in the aftermath of the Great Jubilee of 2000.
