For Immediate Release From Vatican News!
Africa Day: Reflecting On Energy, Inclusivity And A Solid Future In Africa
The conference on “Energy, Youth, and the Future: A Global Perspective on the Sustainable Transition from Africa,” was recently organised by Rome’s Pontifical University of Santa Croce in collaboration with Harambee Africa International on the occasion of Africa Day 2025 which is commemorated worldwide on 25 May 2025. BY Paul Samasumo – Vatican City.
The Africa Day conference offered more than just a space for reflection on Africa and things African. It served as a concrete platform to highlight what Africa already represents today on the global stage: a vibrant continent rich in natural resources, human capital and with its young people eager to shape a dynamic continent that is often misunderstood.
A large and predominantly young audience welcomed the panel of speakers and experts from diverse sectors—including economics, environment, cooperation, and energy regulation—for a broad discussion on one of the most urgent and strategic themes of our time: Africa’s role in the global energy transition and the vital contribution of a new generation in building a sustainable future on the continent.
Africa Day And Energy Challenges
The Santa Croce proceedings were opened by a young Togolese national based in Rome, Mr Isaac Kodjo Atchikiti, an expert in climate finance from the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management and a doctoral candidate in economics at the Sapienza University of Rome.
Mr Atchikiti said the continent needs to create a prosperous Africa driven by and anchored on inclusive participation. “The inclusion of young people is unfortunately sometimes used only as a slogan,” he remarked. He added, “Creating a sustainable Africa requires transparent and stable economies. These should not just be strategies but fundamental foundations for building a future where we can celebrate tangible successes for the African people.”
Mr Atchikiti pointed to the importance of integrating the Oslo Development Agenda as a possible mode. This is because it advocates for inclusive and sustainable development through multi-stakeholder consultation and partnerships.
Energy Service Plans Made In Boardrooms
Next to speak was Ms Musamamba Mubanga, a young Zambian national working for Caritas Internationalis and is also based in Rome. Ms Mubanga offered a compelling testimony, drawing from her personal experience and her work with Caritas Internationalis on the deep connections between energy, climate justice, human rights, and food security. “The issue of exclusion from essential energy services remains one of our most urgent challenges,” she stated. “Energy plans in Africa are often devised in boardrooms and capital cities far away from the affected communities.” She emphasised that energy is not just a policy dialogue issue for many Africans but rather a daily struggle for survival.
Ms Mubanga observed that there are still situations in some African countries where 80% of people have limited access to electricity. Many households, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, rely heavily on charcoal for cooking—a practice that contributes to deforestation, as it involves cutting down large numbers of trees. If meaningful change has to be in energy service delivery, ordinary people’s views and their lived experiences need to heard.
Water And Energy: Pillars For Development
Addressing regulatory perspectives, Italian national Mr Fabio Tambone, Director of Regulation at ARER (the Regulatory Authority for Energy, Networks, and Environment), underscored that “water and energy are the two pillars on which Africa’s sustainable development must rest.” He noted that Africa possesses enormous resources, presenting significant opportunities and complex challenges. “It is essential to develop a distributed energy generation system,” he advised. “Without adopting this approach, we will still be grappling with unresolved problems years from now,” he said.
Ms Isabela Stoll, Head of International Relations at Italy’s GSE company (Gestore dei Servizi Energetici), provided an operational perspective on Italian involvement and outlined the potential for energy cooperation between Italy and African countries.
Read the full article HERE:
https://www.vaticannews.va/en/africa/news/... ********
Gazan Christian's Hope That Nightmare Of War May Soon End
As Hilda Joseph Ayyad, a parishioner taking refuge at the Holy Family Catholic Parish in Gaza, celebrates her 20th birthday, she shares the weight of war and her spark of hope that conflict may soon end. by By Hilda Joseph Ayyad - Gaza*
On this night, which was supposed to be a celebration of the beginning of a new decade of my life, my twentieth year that I had always imagined filled with life and opportunities, I am enveloped by a profound sense of alienation and loss.
Twenty years have become a faded memory amidst the rubble of the past. My home, which witnessed the dreams of my childhood and youth, is now just a painful image in my memory.
Two entire years of my life, the most precious years of beginnings and formation, have evaporated in the midst of this cruel and merciless ordeal. They were stolen from me and from many of my generation, a generation that dreamed of building a bright future, only to find itself captive to compelling circumstances.
Sometimes I feel like a young woman in her twenties, but my soul carries the burden of much older years. I cannot return to the past as it was, to the days when my dreams were simple and attainable, nor can I live my present in peace, for every corner reminds me of what I have lost. The future seems hazy, filled with bitter questions for which I have no answers.
But even in this deep darkness, a faint spark of hope illuminates my path. I refuse to surrender to despair while I am at the beginning of my life.
I am still waiting, with a heart heavy with wounds but beating with determination, for the moment this nightmare that suffocates our dreams will end.
I await the day when I can inhale the scent of freedom, take my first steps towards building my stolen future, and reclaim the lost years of my youth with doubled joy and greater strength.
This twentieth birthday of mine is not a celebration of years, but a stand of steadfastness and defiance. It is a reminder of the heavy price we have paid from our youth and our dreams, but it is also a declaration of our solid will to remain and hope for a tomorrow that brings with it justice, peace, and compensation for all that has been lost.
I wish from the depths of my heart, at the beginning of this new decade of my life, that the coming days will bring an end to this suffering, that warmth and safety will return to our homes, and that we, the youth of this generation, will be able to reclaim our dreams and build a future worthy of our sacrifices.
Pray for us.
* A Christian refugee at the Holy Family Catholic Church in Gaza - Article orginally published on L'Osservatore Romano on May 19, 2025
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Holy See Opposes Rearmament, Calls For Respect Of Humanitarian Law
Our Editorial Director reflects on the Holy See’s intervention at the UN, drawing on the words of Pope Leo XIV, noting that concrete steps are urgently needed to protect civilians in armed conflicts and to disarm the world. By Andrea Tornielli
“The Holy See considers it essential to put an end to the use of indiscriminate weapons, landmines and cluster munitions, and to stop the deployment of explosive weapons in populated areas. This together with the cessation of arms production and stockpiling constitute concrete and urgent steps towards a better protection of civilians” in armed conflicts, said Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the UN, speaking on 22 May at the Security Council’s open debate on the protection of civilians.
“The Holy See” said Archbishop Caccia, “while deeply concerned about the increasing number and intensity of armed conflicts across the world, which continue to inflict profound and disproportionate suffering on civilian populations, underscores the urgent need for compliance with international humanitarian law, in particular the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols.”
These are words whose truth and urgency are there for all to see: the tragedy unfolding in Gaza, to the detriment of the entire civilian population, has no justification. Just as there can be no justification for the attacks on civilians in Ukraine and other parts of the world, where the many forgotten wars are being fought.
“The deliberate targeting of civilians, including women, children, and humanitarian personnel; the destruction of essential infrastructure such as hospitals, schools, and places of worship; and the denial of humanitarian access to those in urgent need are of great concern,” he continued. “While these violations are an immense human tragedy, they also represent a grave affront to the foundations of international security.”
On Friday, 23 May, Pope Leo XIV received the presidency of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE). There were no public speeches, but the bishops who attended reported that the Pontiff “expressed his fear that a greater focus on arms spending would be at the expense of support for the most needy and fragile.”
Earlier, receiving representatives of other Churches and ecclesial communities and other religions on 19 May, Pope Leo had said: “In a world wounded by violence and conflict, each of the communities represented here brings its own contribution of wisdom, compassion and commitment to the good of humanity and the preservation of our common home. I am convinced that if we are in agreement, and free from ideological and political conditioning, we can be effective in saying ‘no’ to war and ‘yes’ to peace; ‘no’ to the arms race and ‘yes’ to disarmament; ‘no’ to an economy that impoverishes peoples and the Earth and ‘yes’ to integral development.”
These are words to remember and repeat today, on the tenth anniversary of the social encyclical Laudato si', in the face of a world rushing to rearm itself, taking away resources that could be used to fight hunger and poverty.
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Pope: 'Faith And Prayer Are Like Salt Which Gives Flavour'
Pope Leo XIV gives a warm welcome to Vatican employees and their families, and reminds that 'faith and prayer are like salt which gives flavour,' and that by regularly turning to these key ingredients they will best offer their everyday tasks and responsibilities, and observes that 'popes come and go, but the Curia remains.' By Deborah Castellano Lubov
"Faith and prayer are like salt in food: they give it flavor," Pope Leo XIV said on Saturday, recommending these two practical and prayerful 'ingredients' for Vatican employees to always use amply in their daily tasks.
It marked the Holy Father's first encounter since being elected Pope with officials of the Roman Curia, and the employees of the Holy See, the Governorate of Vatican City State, and the Vicariate of Rome.
Recognizing that each, in his or her own way, collaborates in the Successor of Peter's work, the Pope warmly welcomed those gathered, and expressed his gladness.
"Each one contributes by carrying out their daily tasks with commitment—and also with faith, because faith and prayer are like salt in food: they give it flavor."
The Holy Father also said he was very glad that many family members were also present, "taking advantage of the fact that today is Saturday."
This first meeting of ours, Pope Leo XIV noted, is "certainly not the occasion for programmatic speeches," but rather "an opportunity for me to thank you for the service you carry out, and this service, which I, so to speak, 'inherit' from my predecessors."
The Holy Father pointed out that he arrived only two years ago, "when the beloved Pope Francis appointed me Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops." At that time, he recalled that he left the Diocese of Chiclayo in Peru and came here to work.
"What a change! And now… what can I say? Only what Simon Peter said to Jesus by the Sea of Tiberias: 'Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you,'" he reflected.
Popes come and go, Curia remains
"Popes come and go; the Curia remains," Pope Leo observed.
This, he said, applies in every particular Church, to diocesan Curias, and it applies as well to the Curia of the Bishop of Rome. "The Curia is the institution that preserves and transmits the historical memory of a Church, of the ministry of its Bishops," he noted, saying, "This is very important."
Memory, he reiterated, is an essential element in a living organism, and is not only oriented toward the past, but nourishes the present and guides the future. "Without memory," he said, "the path becomes lost, the journey loses its meaning."
Cannot thank the Lord enough for vocation
Working in the Roman Curia, he said, means helping to keep alive the memory of the Apostolic See, so that the ministry of the Pope may be carried out in the best possible way. And by analogy, he added, the same can be said of the services of the Vatican City State.
He then highlighted the missionary dimension of the Curia and of every institution linked to the Petrine ministry, complementary to that of memory,.
"As you may know," he shared, "the experience of mission is part of my life—not only as a baptized person, as it is for all Christians—but also because, as an Augustinian religious, I was a missionary in Peru. It was among the Peruvian people that my pastoral vocation matured."
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Apostolic Nuncio to EU: We need peace and the transmission of faith
In an interview with Vatican Media, the Apostolic Nuncio to the European Union, Archbishop Bernardito Auza, discusses emphasis placed on working toward just peace in Ukraine during encounter with Pope Leo XIV, how families in Europe have a responsibility to transmit the faith from one generation to the next, and how the Pope suggested "there is a thirst" among young people and children to learn about God and the faith.
By Deborah Castellano Lubov
The Apostolic Nuncio to the European Union says it is critical for families in Europe to transmit the faith and that young people are thirsting for this relationship with God, and likewise is reiterating the great concern for peace in the world always-more enveloped by war, even on European soil.
In an interview with Vatican News, Archbishop Bernardito Auza, made this observation, following the Presidency of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union, or COMECE's, encounter with Pope Leo on Friday morning.
Speaking to Vatican Media in the interview this morning, he reflected on Pope Leo's 'intense' encounter with the Presidency of (COMECE), in which he openly listened to those before him.
Read the full article HERE:
https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city...
Posted By: agnes levine
Sunday, May 25th 2025 at 3:49PM
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