Of Iris Venuto
There is a word that seems to have faded among the papers of international law. Yet its echo continues to call people to recognize themselves as part of a single human family: it is brotherhood. The appeal to communion between peoples of Saint Francis of Assisi, on the eighth centenary of his death (1226-2026), becomes the underlying theme of the second edition of the international conference «Pax et Bonum 2026. In the sign of Saint Francis: fraternity and international law to build peace», which will be held tomorrow, Sunday 7 June, in Rome in the hall of the presidency of the Italian Catholic Action.
Born last year on the occasion of the Jubilee of the associations, the event is promoted by the Giuseppe Toniolo Institute of International Peace Law, by the Italian Catholic Action and by the International Forum of Catholic Action (Fiac) and is closely linked to the international initiative “One minute for peace”, promoted every 8 June by Fiac, which recalls the historic prayer meeting which took place in 2014 in the Vatican Gardens by will of Pope Francis and which brought together the then Israeli presidents Shimon Peres and Palestinian Mahmoud Abbas together with the ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I.
This year’s edition, in referring to the pillars of the teachings of the saint of Assisi, characterized by interreligious dialogue and peace between different cultures, aims to scientifically address the relationship between fraternity and contemporary international law.
The principle of fraternity is a warning “to which today more than ever it is necessary to appeal in the face of the crisis of international law and coexistence between peoples to try to recover a common sense of humanity”, Andrea Michieli, director of the Giuseppe Toniolo Institute of Higher Studies, explains to the Vatican media. In an era marked by armed conflicts, humanitarian crises and economic instabilities, the Franciscan message “can be the basis for building systems of solidarity between peoples, trying to identify a different paradigm compared to the law of the strongest”, adds Michieli. A model, therefore, capable of guiding peaceful coexistence in opposition to increasingly alarming dynamics of violence and indifference.
In this sense, Francis’ teaching can also be implemented outside of the ethical dimension alone, as a political and legal principle to rebuild relations between peoples on the basis of dialogue, human dignity, cooperation and the protection of the common good. An interpretation also present in the Encyclical Magnificent humanity, in which Pope Leo A principle which, according to the director of the Institute, can be guaranteed with the recognition of “political institutions that guarantee pluralism”. It is on the economic level, however, that “new governance paradigms for businesses are required, which put the person at the centre, differentiating themselves from those based exclusively on profit and unbridled competition”.
The central point of the conference is therefore the recognition of the centrality of the person and his dignity, around which to relocate all systems – international, national, economic and social – promoting the transition from isolated actions to concerted and shared plans. The term fraternity, underlines Vincenzo Buonomo, rector of the Pontifical Urbaniana University, who will open the meeting, «should not be understood only in an anthropological sense, as a principle of friendship between peoples, but also as an instrument that guarantees the functioning of multilateralism, which is unfortunately increasingly ignored today in international relations. A fraternal climate, in fact, does not simply mean coexisting, but identifying common solutions together.” And if, “law is a consequence of an ethical vision, faced with the growing weakness of ethical and moral demands on a global level, the magisterium of the Church presents itself not only as an interlocutor, but also as a subject capable of forming consciences”. And it is precisely on mutual responsibility that the foundations for a united world are founded, capable of enhancing and allowing different identities to coexist.
The debate will be divided along three main lines: philosophical-juridical reflection, interreligious dialogue and the impact of fraternity on contemporary international relations. Numerous interventions by scholars and experts from the academic world, who will delve into the topic in its philosophical, legal, religious, economic and social implications, guided by the memory of the historic meeting of 2014, with profound political and spiritual value, which reminded the whole world of how the power of prayer, mutual listening and brotherhood is capable of overcoming religious, cultural and geopolitical divisions.
The conclusion of the conference will therefore be entrusted to a moment of prayer in the Vatican Gardens, chaired by Monsignor Claudio Giuliodori, general assistant of the Italian Catholic Action. In front of the olive tree planted on that historic date, the invocation for peace pronounced at the time will be reread, a gesture that still today allows us to glimpse a glimmer of hope in a geopolitical context marked by wars, violence and injustice, but still capable of seeking meeting spaces and paths to peace.
