PRESS RELEASE

The Father Jacques Hamel Prize for peace to be awarded in Lourdes on the occasion of the

Saint Francis de Sales Meetings (24 to 26 January 2024) with the participation of Catholic media professionals from all the continents

The Fédération des Médias Catholiques de France is organizing the International Saint Francis de Sales Meetings in Lourdes, from Wednesday 24 to Friday 26 January 2024.

Bringing together over 250 Catholic journalists and media professionals from approximately 30 countries in all the continents, the Saint Francis de Sales Days are a fundamental moment that enables everyone, under the benevolent gaze of Mary, to share their own profession, enriching each other.

Initiated five years ago at international level, especially through fruitful collaboration with the Holy See Dicastery for Communication, SIGNIS World and, for a year also UCSI, the Meetings welcome professionals from all over Europe, and also the United States of America, Canada, India, the Philippines, Vietnam, Kenya, and Cote d’Ivoire.

During the Meetings, the Father Jacques Hamel Prize for peace, created in 2017, will be awarded to the candidates to be chosen by the French-Italian jury for distinguished service in building bridges between religions.

As of this edition, the Prize – named after the priest murdered in the middle of a celebration in his church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray in July 2016 – has become International: https://www.medias-catholiques.fr/edito/premio-internazionale-padre-jacques-hamel-edizione-2024.

To present the Lourdes Encounters and the Jacques Hamel Prize, a press conference will be held on Tuesday 5 December 2023 at 15.00 at the Istituto Maria Santissima Bambina in Rome, Via Paolo VI 21, in the presence of:

Roseline HAMEL, the sister of the martyred priest, who after the assassination, bears everywhere the testimony of faith that her brother passed on to her: she became friends with the mother of the young assassin;

Jean-Marie MONTEL, general manager of the Bayard Group, consultant to the Dicastery for Communication and president of the Fédération des Médias Catholiques de France;

Xavier LE NORMAND, journalist for the newspaper La Croix and coordinator of the programme of the Saint Francis de Sales Meetings in Lourdes.

The conference will be broadcast live and streamed and will be available on the website of the Fédération des Médias Catholiques: https://www.medias-catholiques.fr/

ACCREDITATION PROCEDURES

Journalists and media operators wishing to attend the press conference on Tuesday, 5 December 2023, must apply, up to 24 hours before the event, through the Holy See Press Office online accreditation system at: press.vatican.va/accreditation