The Fratelli Tutti Foundation, chaired by Claudio Granata, promoted the initiative “Workshops for Humanity – Towards the 2027 Meeting on Fraternity,” which took place in Rome on October 16–17. The event provided an opportunity for dialogue and attentive listening, aimed at developing new projects in preparation for the next edition of the Meeting on Fraternity.
Through dialogue, shared experiences and proposals, a number of priorities were set for the event in 2027. This cultural initiative, promoted by the Foundation through the various editions of the Meeting, builds upon the legacy of the World Meeting on Human Fraternity 2025.
Among the speakers was Sr. Raffaella Petrini, President of the Governorate of Vatican City State. During the gathering, the publication “Brother, Where Are You?”, edited by Mico Capasso and Father Francesco Occhetta, Secretary General of the Fratelli Tutti Foundation, was also presented. The book brings together reflections, testimonies, experiences and projects that emerged during the World Meeting on Human Fraternity 2025.
Below is the address delivered in Italian by the President of the Governorate:
I extend my cordial greetings to His Eminence Cardinal Mauro Gambetti,
to Father Francesco Occhetta,
to Claudio Granata, President of the Fratelli Tutti Foundation,
and to all of you present here today.
We are gathered here today to inaugurate a journey that began with the experience of last year's World Meeting on Human Fraternity, encapsulated in the volume “Brother, Where Are You?” It is a journey that invites us to reflect on how we might respond to an urgent question, one that shakes the very foundations of our time: What does it mean to be human today?
In a fragmented age, dominated by the illusion of digital hyperconnectivity yet wounded by moral disorientation and profound loneliness of the soul, Pope Francis' Encyclical Fratelli tutti is not merely a social document of considerable importance. It is a cry. It is a map pointing the way forward. It reminds us that being human is not a biological condition acquired once and for all, but a vocation that must be embraced anew each day. Today, being human means rejecting the globalization of indifference and rediscovering that we are fundamentally, viscerally bound to one another as members of the same family. Moreover, from a Christian perspective, no one is saved alone. No one, on their own, can satisfy their fundamental needs, much less their deepest desires, including the pursuit of happiness. The other person is not a limitation on my freedom, but the very condition of my existence.
The principle of universal fraternity has been recalled repeatedly by the popes. In this regard, on February 4, 2026, in his Message on the Occasion of the International Day of Human Fraternity and the Presentation of the 2026 Zayed Award for Human Fraternity, Pope Leo XIV emphasized that “the most precious and universal aspect of our humanity” is precisely “our fraternity, that unbreakable bond which unites all human beings, created in the image of God.”
Furthermore, the Pope added, “the need for this fraternity is not a distant ideal but an urgent necessity. We cannot ignore the fact that too many of our brothers and sisters are currently enduring the horrors of violence and war.”
Pope Francis likewise emphasized, in his Message for the Celebration of the 53rd World Day of Peace, January 1, 2020, that “every war is a form of fratricide that destroys the human family's innate vocation to brotherhood.” These words also find an echo in the Encyclical Fratelli tutti (cf. 26).
The “Workshops for Humanity”
The particular nature of universal fraternity is recalled by Pope Leo XIV in the aforementioned Message: “Human fraternity is a lived reality, stronger than all conflicts, differences and tensions. It is a potential that must be realized through a daily concrete commitment to respect, sharing and compassion.” It is only in our relationships with others that we find complete fulfillment. This dimension is not confined to the personal sphere, for fraternity must also be embodied in our common life, in social and political structures, and in the choices and paths we pursue together (cf. Magnifica Humanitas, 73).
Today, as the Supreme Pontiff recently reiterated, we are all called to adopt the same attitude as the people in the time of Nehemiah, in order to “build the city in which God desires to dwell with all humanity in peace.”[1] We must therefore take action to translate this insight into reality. Good intentions are not enough. We must open up new spaces for working together, what have been described as “workshops for humanity.”
The “workshops for humanity” are the places where we encounter one another in our daily lives — schools, politics, workplaces and communities — wherever we are called to act and serve in our particular missions. Construction sites are generally chaotic, dusty and noisy places, where one must move carefully, sometimes wearing protective gear, but where plans are drawn up and structures are built. Working on these sites often means undertaking strenuous tasks and getting our hands dirty, bending down to ease the burdens of a wounded and suffering humanity, deprived of its dignity and searching for a sense of direction in life. Activity in these workshops means replacing the logic of control and manipulation with that of care, abandoning competition in favor of solidarity, and restoring the inestimable value of every individual person to the center of our concerns.
The Mission of Nehemiah
From the rubble of a construction site, a community can be rebuilt. This is why the biblical figure of the prophet Nehemiah emerges as a point of reference, someone who can serve both as a guide and as a mirror for us.
Nehemiah is in Susa, serving at the king's court, enjoying a life of personal comfort. Yet when he learns that the walls of Jerusalem lie in ruins and that its people are living in misery, Nehemiah does not look the other way. He does not say, “That is not my problem,” washing his hands of the matter. Nehemiah weeps, prays and then acts. He asks permission to leave and rebuild the walls.
And he does not rebuild the walls alone, nor does he do so to isolate the city from the world. On the contrary, he involves everyone, calling upon the people to participate actively and urging them to rebuild together. The biblical account presents a wide variety of individuals and professions — women and men, young people, priests, perfumers, goldsmiths and merchants — each working alongside the others to restore a section of the wall in front of their own homes and beyond.
Social and spiritual reconstruction is a collective undertaking. Nehemiah's walls are not intended to exclude, but to restore identity, protection and dignity to a community that had lost its way and more importantly its hope. Today, we are called to do the same: to heal the wounds of a suffering humanity, gather up the fragments left by destruction from conflict and war, rebuild bridges of dialogue, and rekindle trust weakened by suspicion. For it is precisely through solidarity that we give concrete expression that no one is saved alone.
Towards the Civilization of Love
The ultimate goal of this endeavor is not so much to build a more efficient and technologically advanced society as to establish the Civilization of Love, a community of people capable of living in peace.
The Civilization of Love envisions a society in which the economy serves as a means of meeting human needs and that politics is capable of defining its goals because it pursues the common good. It is a society capable of integrating the spirit of giving into economic transactions and fostering a culture of respect, in which an embrace overcomes suspicion and technology is directed towards the good of the humanum, the human person.
This is not a naive utopia, but the only realistic alternative to mutual destruction.
Today, as we look towards our “workshops,” inspired by the courage and wisdom of Nehemiah and enlightened by the prophetic vision of Fratelli tutti, together we declare this journey officially underway, conscious that every stone we lay, every hand we clasp, and every fragment of dignity we restore to another person represents a step forward towards recovering our own humanity and the beauty that distinguishes it.
I wish you, therefore, a fruitful journey towards the 2027 Meeting, and every success in your work.
[1] Leo XIV, Homily, Mass for the Beginning of the Academic Year of the Pontifical Universities, St. Peter's Basilica, October 8, 2026.