Universal fraternity show is spectacular flop in Vatican

Vatican, the parvis transformed into the (flop) Festival of Brotherhood, the Pope from Gemelli: 'No to war'

Empty chairs and a mere 445 views on YouTube

 

Vatican City - "Let us feel called to apply the balm of tenderness within the relationships that have festered, between people as between peoples. Let us not tire of shouting 'no to war', in the name of God or in the name of every man and woman who aspires to peace". On the parvis of St. Peter's, Cardinal Mauro Gambetti reads the message prepared by the Pope while the loudspeakers blast the notes of "We are the world", the famous song written four hands by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie in 1985 which, at the time, had the noble objective of raising funds for Ethiopia starved by a devastating famine.

Pope Francis should have been present but he is currently convalescing at the Gemelli Hospital from an operation on his abdomen. He thus entrusted Gambetti with the task of reading his speech, while before him Cardinal Piero Parolin welcomed some thirty Nobel prize-winners who had arrived in Rome in recent days to sign a joint declaration calling for an end to all armed conflicts, encouraging the international community to set up a ministry for peace, and to work harder against social inequalities. "To hatred we respond with love. It is enough to plant one small seed a day'. 

UKRAINE

While Russian bombs in the heart of Europe are destroying Ukraine, at the first Festival of Brotherhood organised by Cardinal Gambetti's newly founded Fratelli Tutti foundation, everyone is careful not to mention the deaths in Bucha or the destruction of the Kakhovka dam, as if it were something distant or perhaps too inconvenient. 

COLDIRETTI (food products company)

Contrary to the forecasts made on the eve of the meeting when Gambetti had imagined the presence of tens of thousands of people, there was not all the crowd expected in the Vatican square. The first world meeting on human fraternity turned out to be a semi-flop. On the other hand, Via della Conciliazione was transformed for the occasion into a cheerful village festival with dozens of farmers' stalls where Coldiretti products were on sale to help the flood victims in Romagna. In St. Peter's Square, on the other hand, a stage was set up for a show broadcast live by RAI with singers, actors, dancers and even the Antoniano choir dusting off the classic repertoire, from Quarantaquattro gatti in fila per tre con il resto di due, to Volevo un gatto nero (Forty-four cats in a row of three with the rest of two), so much in vogue in the Seventies. 

Pope Francis grapples with wars, from Ukraine to the one that shakes the Church: 'The devil's fault'

SHOW

Paolo Conti was called in to host the event while RAI aired it in connection with a number of live venues around the world. Bangui in Central Africa, Jerusalem, Brazzaville, Buenos Aires, Trapani where the heartfelt cry against the refoulement of migrants was raised. "We have so many problems in the world but we have a main road to take," Parolin stressed, "which is the road of fraternity that the Church has always indicated and that Pope Francis indicated in the encyclical Fratelli tutti. It is the way to build a new world of peace and solidarity. We hope that these challenging words can be translated into everyday practice'. 

SINGERS

"It is the first time I sing here, I am very excited, I greet the Holy Father" exclaimed Mr. Rain who sang in St. Peter's Square 'SupereroI', his hit brought to Sanremo. Before him Andrea Bocelli had dedicated 'Fratello Sole Sorella Luna', "a Franciscan song", to Pope Francis. Other artists taking part in the event included Al Bano who sang 'Ave Maria', Amii Stewart, the dancer, Roberto Bolle, and Simone Cristicchi. Various testimonies were then interspersed: Filippo Grandi of UNHCR, Sandra Sarti of Aid to the Church in Need, two 'former enemies' who studied together in the citadel of peace in Rondine and who are now witnesses of brotherhood.

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