PRESS RELEASE

#NotAlone: World Meeting on Human Fraternity on 10 June in Saint Peter's Square

VATICAN CITY, 23 MAY - On 10 June at 16.00 in Saint Peter'’ Square and, at the same time, in eight other squares around the world, the World Meeting on Human Fraternity, entitled "Not alone" (#notalone), will be held in the presence of Pope Francis.

Also in the square will be 30 Nobel Laureates and thousands of young people from all over the world. The event is organized by the Fratelli tutti Vatican Foundation, in collaboration with Saint Peter’s Basilica, the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development and the Dicastery for Communication.

The initiative, inspired by the Encyclical Fratelli tutti, will involve people from all over the world to promote together the culture of fraternity and peace and encourage personal commitment in choices and practices of reparation, dialogue and forgiveness, overcoming loneliness and marginalization that deny human dignity.

The event will see in particular the participation of an international representation of young people who, at the end of the day, holding hands, will join in a large embrace in the colonnade of Saint Peter's Square, architectural symbol of the universal embrace of the Church. With them in Saint Peter's Square there will be ecclesial and lay entities, families, associations and those who today find themselves forced to live on the margins of society, from the poorest and homeless to migrants and victims of violence and human trafficking.

The day, conceived as a process and experience of building fraternity, will be divided into two moments: in the morning, some groups will meet to share paths of communion that will be briefly recounted in the afternoon. In particular, the Nobel Laureates who have joined the initiative will meet with each other and with figures from the spheres of science, culture, law and international organizations to draw up a document calling for a commitment to human fraternity, to be presented to Pope Francis in Saint Peter's Square and, together with the Holy Father, to all the people in the world who wish to heed the call to build social friendship and a paradigm of fraternity, justice and peace.

The afternoon event in Saint Peter's Square will begin at 16.00 and will be open to all, without registration, with access to the square starting at 14.00. Further information on the programme will be available online at: www.fondazionefratellitutti.org/notalone.

The meeting will be broadcast live on television by CTV and Vatican Media and, in streaming, on the website (www.fondazionefratellitutti.org) and on the Facebook and YouTube channels of the Fratelli tutti Foundation.

ACCREDITATION PROCEDURES

Journalists and media workers who wish to attend must apply, within 24 hours of the event, via the Holy See Press Office online accreditation system at: press.vatican.va/accreditamenti.

Press and Media Relations Office

Roberto Pacilio

M: +39 339.54.49.531

E-mail: pressnotalone@fondazionefratellitutti.va