There will be seven thousand children from 84 countries who will meet Francis at the Vatican on Monday 6 November to share, reads a communiqué, “their hopes and concerns for the future”. The event “Children meet the Pope”, in the Paul VI Hall, will be accompanied by the publication of “The Children’s Encyclical”, a book written by Father Enzo Fortunato and Aldo Cagnoli, with a preface by the Pope, who writes: “Dear children, I embrace you, and know that your Pope and ‘grandfather’ will do everything so that you can live in a more beautiful and good world”. The meeting – the communiqué goes on to say – is sponsored by the Dicastery for Culture and Education and organised in synergy with the Community of Sant’Egidio, Cooperativa Auxilium, Trenitalia and Busitalia (companies of the Italian FS Group), Regional School Offices and with the support of the Franciscan world, the PerugiAssisi Foundation and the Italian Football Federation.
The world of peace and fraternity of children
“Faced with a society at war with each other,” say the organisers Father Enzo Fortunato, Marco Impagliazzo and Angelo Chiorazzo, “where there are oppositions, walls and exclusions, a World Children’s Day is the sign of a different world where there is room for everyone, where peace and fraternity dwell. Children ask for peace, respect and listening. It is the duty of the adult world to start taking them seriously’. The children will arrive at St. Peter’s thanks to “63 special buses, 30 of which from Busitalia and 8 special trains made available by the Italian FS Group”. In the square, the event will be able to be followed live via a mega-screen.
The event programme
The programme includes: Sunday 5 November, a moment for the foreign delegations to meet in the Roman Basilica of the Twelve Holy Apostles, to reflect on the common home and the environment. It will also be an opportunity to present “Earth4All and the world of Francis”, a documentary by Sky and GEDI, in the presence of the authors Riccardo Luna and Daniele Moretti, with an introduction by Brother Carlos Trovarelli, Minister General of the Friars Minor Conventual. On Monday, 6 November, at ‘platform one of the Roma Ostiense station, the Rock regional train with a livery dedicated to the event will be presented. Father Enzo Fortunato, Friar Minor Conventual, Stefano Cuzzilla, President of Trenitalia, and Luigi Corradi, Managing Director and General Manager of Trenitalia, will participate in the initiative. In the afternoon, at 2pm, the children will arrive in the Paul VI Hall to await the Pope, who will be welcomed by the children’s songs, who will address them and answer questions from some of the little ones.
