At the International Meeting on Human Fraternity organized by the Vatican on June 10, 2023, 29 Nobel Prize winners (see list below) will sign a document on human fraternity, announced the Vatican press office June 5. The Pope was supposed to participate in this event and sign the document with them, but will be unable to as he is in the hospital recovering from abdomen surgery. All his audiences have been cancelled until June 18.
Among the participants there will also be former presidents, such as Lech Walęsa (Poland), Juan Manuel Santos (Colombia), and Oscar Arias Sánchez (Costa Rica).
“The Holy Father encouraged the Fratelli Tutti Foundation to move forward in organizing the event that will bring together people from all over the world to promote the culture of fraternity, dialogue, and peace,” said the organizers in a statement released on June 7, the day on which Pope Francis was operated. “The Holy Father will be supported by the affection and prayers of the Meeting participants, who will gather in St. Peter’s Square on Saturday afternoon.”
The document on fraternity, which will be signed on Saturday, should not be confused with the document of the same name signed by the Pope and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, in Abu Dhabi in 2019.
In addition to the Nobel Prize winners, artists, important figures from the fields of science and culture, environmental activists, homeless people, migrants, schoolchildren and many young people – including young Russians and Ukrainians – will take part in workshops reflecting on fraternity.
In the afternoon, young people will form a circle in the square, holding hands in a symbolic act of peace.
During this day, St. Peter’s Square will be twinned with other squares around the world where similar events will take place: Jerusalem (Israel), Nagasaki (Japan), Bangui (Central African Republic), Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), Buenos Aires (Argentina), Brazzaville (Congo), Lima (Peru).
Planned as a celebration, the event will continue into the evening with a number of Italian artists, including tenor Andrea Bocelli.
The event is financed by the Italian companies Fiat, Coldiretti, Intesa San Paolo, ITA Airways and Novamont. It will be broadcast by Rai and Vatican media from 4 pm to 6:45 pm.
The 29 Nobel Prize winners
Nobel Peace Prize (individuals)
Juan Manuel Santos, President of the Republic of Colombia (2010-2018) – Nobel Peace Prize 2016
Oscar Arias Sánchez, President of the Republic of Costa Rica (1986-1990 ; 2006-2010) – Nobel Peace Prize 1987
Lech Walęsa, President of the Republic of Poland (1990-1995) – Nobel Peace Prize 1983
José Ramos-Horta, President of the Democratic Republic of East Timor (2007-2012 ; 2022- ) – Nobel Peace Prize 1996
Jody Williams, founder of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines – Nobel Peace Prize 1997
Sirin Ebadi, Iranian activist for human rights and democracy – Nobel Peace Prize 2003
Muhammad Yunus, economist and founder of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh – Nobel Peace Prize 2006
Leymah Roberta Gbowee, Liberian peace activist – Nobel Peace Prize 2011
Tawakkol Karman, leader of the Arab Spring in Yemen – Nobel Peace Prize 2011
Denis Mukwege, gynecologist from the DRC, committed to fighting violence against women – Nobel Peace Prize 2018
Nadia Murad Basee Taha, activist against sexual violence against women in Iraq – Nobel Peace Prize 2018
Maria Angelita Ressa, Philippine activist for freedom of expression – Nobel Peace Prize 2021
The 2011 Nobel Peace Prize winner, feminist activist Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, sent a representative.
Nobel Peace Prize (organizations)
International Peace Bureau – Nobel Peace Prize 1910
American Friends Service Committee (Quakers) – Nobel Peace Prize 1947
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) – Nobel Peace Prize 1954 and 1981
UNICEF – Nobel Peace Prize 1965
International Labor Organization (ILO) – Nobel Peace Prize 1969
International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War – Nobel Peace Prize 1985
United Nations Peacekeeping Force – Nobel Peace Prize 1988
Pugwash Movement – Nobel Peace Prize 1995
International Campaign to Ban Landmines – Nobel Peace Prize 1997
International Atomic Energy Agency – Nobel Peace Prize 2005
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) – Nobel Peace Prize 2007
Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons – Nobel Peace Prize 2013
International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons – Nobel Peace Prize 2017
Center for Civil Liberties – Nobel Peace Prize 2022
United Nations – Nobel Peace Prize 2001
Nobel Prize in Physics
Giorgio Parisi (Italy – 2021)
And today we celebrate...