“Peace is made with the feet, hands and eyes of the peoples involved,” says Pope Francis at the meeting at the Arena in Verona (Italy). And he invites the people of peace to stand up and sow hope. The Comboni Missionaries are promoting the initiative.
“Peace will never be the fruit of walls, of weapons pointed at each other. Let us not sow death, destruction, or fear. Let’s sow hope! This is what you are doing in this ‘Arena of Peace’. Don’t give up. Don’t be discouraged. Do not become spectators of the so-called “inevitable” war.” Strong words from Pope Francis in front of more than 12 thousand people present in the Temple of Opera in Verona on May 18th.
Looking at the people waving the many flags of peace, the pope exclaims: “On your feet, builders of peace.” The people of the Arena stand up. Many are holding white handkerchiefs with the word Peace written in eight languages.
Above, an intense blue sky. The sunshine kisses the faces of the people. There are many who feel sincere emotion. It is the feeling of those who feel encouraged to continue a path that has become even more difficult today, from a Pope who is now a universal point of reference for the people of non-violence.
One of the more touching moments was the embrace between Maoz Inon, an Israeli, and Aziz Sarah, a Palestinian. “My parents were killed on October 7 by Hamas,” says Maoz. “My brother was killed immediately afterwards by Israeli soldiers,” echoes Aziz. They embrace each other, they each the other’s hands and they raise them together: they comfort each other in their unspeakable pain. Pope Francis looks at them attentively, and begins to speak slowly: “In the face of the suffering of these two brothers, which is the suffering of two peoples, nothing can be said. They had the courage to embrace each other and this is not only courage and testimony of wanting peace, but also a project for the future.”
Maoz and Aziz shyly go to meet him and the Pope slowly gets up to embrace them. The silence of the audience dissolves into infinite applause: here is possible peace, here is the embrace that can change the world.
Again, in the Middle East, this time it is the words of women that resonate in the Roman Amphitheatre. The voices come via video from the representatives of Woman Wage Peace, the same Israeli women’s organisation of which Vivien Silver was the founder, also killed by Hamas on 7 October, and those of the Palestinian ‘sisters’ of Women of the Sun: “Stop killing! We need a courageous political action, let us grow new hope”, they say. And they wanted to sign a document together: “We Palestinian and Israeli mothers are united by the human desire for a future of peace, freedom, equality, rights and security for our children and the next generations. We ask our leaders to start listening to us and to begin negotiations immediately. Let them show courage and vision.”
From the Middle East to Afghanistan. Al Mahbouba Seraj, an Afghan woman, from Kabul. She mentions the failure, in her country, of the illusion of a “democracy built on paper”. Afghanistan has been at war for 44 years, “What can be done?”, you ask. She quotes some verses: “The mosque, Mecca, the Temple, are all excuses. God’s life is in your home.”
These two hours pass quickly with questions and answers. Pope Francis continues: “The future of humanity is not only in the hands of great leaders, great powers and the elite”, but “in the hands of peoples, in their ability to organize themselves”. Referring to Israeli and Palestinian women as well as all women in armed conflicts, the Pope says “Ask the world leaders to listen to your voice, to involve you in the negotiation processes, so that agreements arise from reality and not from ideologies: ideologies have no feet to walk with, no hands to heal wounds, no eyes to see the sufferings of others. Peace is made with the feet, the hands and the eyes of the people involved.”
“Everyone will reap what he has sown – he added -. Our civilisations are sowing death, destruction, and fear. Instead, let us sow hope. And that is what you too are doing, in this Arena of Peace. Don’t give up. Don’t be discouraged. Do not become spectators of the so-called ‘inevitable’ war.
In closing, the Comboni Father Alex Zanotelli reads the Arena 2024 Manifesto. The document says: “Our gaze is turned to the environment, which hosts us, and to all the victims of wars, violence, abuse, exploitation, violations of fundamental rights, mafias and forced migrations. Peace is not just the absence of war, it is disarmament, democracy, justice, rights, and caring for our common home. Peace is a personal and collective lifestyle.”
The document underlines that “We live in a multipolar world context, characterized by an economic system that generates inequalities and oligarchies because profit, exploitation, predatory finance and mafias prevail. Entire social sectors and peoples are marginalized and discriminated against due to patriarchy, racism and neocolonialism. Democracy is distorted by interest groups and authoritarian tendencies prevail. Freedom and fundamental rights are violated and their universality is called into question, in particular towards women and LGBT+ people. There are institutions complicit in environmental disasters and climate change. In the southern hemisphere, millions of people are forced to flee unacceptable socio-environmental conditions. Inequities strengthen fundamentalisms and religions are exploited to justify wars and limitations of rights.
And finally: “We are faced with challenges that can only truly be faced together, to achieve the change we believe is possible. Therefore, while maintaining our specific activities, we wish to join forces in clear, essential lines of commitment to be effective, as demonstrated by the results obtained on many occasions. We are inspired by the testimonies of people, even very young people, who with their enthusiasm keep alive the desire for peace, justice, democracy, solidarity and the defence of the environment.”
The “Arenas of Peace” were born in Verona in 1986 as moments of large assemblies inside the Arena, the prestigious Roman amphitheatre of the city. Among the founders and promoters of these important events were the Comboni Missionaries. From 1986 to 2014 there were eight events in the Roman amphitheatre. Among those that had an impact were that of 1989, the ‘Arena of Peace’ dedicated to South Africa with the presence of the theologian and anti-apartheid activist, Beyers Naudé. In 1991, an Arena was urgently convened to respond to the outbreak of the 1991 Gulf War. In 1993 an Arena was dedicated to the 500th anniversary of the conquest of Latin America, with the presence of Nobel Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchù of Guatemala. (C.C.)
