Vatican to host 3rd irreligious World Fraternity meeting
Attention will be given to see how Pope Leo handles the event, which builds on one of the key themes of Pope Francis.
(PerMariam) — The Vatican’s third installation of a meeting aimed at fostering ecumenical fraternity will take place next month, and will be the first held under Pope Leo.
From September 12 through 13, the World Meeting on Human Fraternity will be held at locations across Rome and on site at the Vatican. Previous iterations of the event have been notable for the lack of attention to religion, and a particularly secular response to global crises despite being promoted by the Holy See.
The event is a joint project of the Basilica of Saint Peter, the Fratelli Tutti Foundation and the Be Human Association.
Under the theme “BeHuman” the event seeks “to reflect together on what it means to be human today, in an era marked by conflicts, loneliness, new forms of poverty, environmental crises, and challenges related to technological progress.”
“It is an opportunity for dialogue, sharing experiences, and— starting from fraternity—building new ways of hope and shared responsibility,” details from the organizers state.
Friday September 12 will see the staging of 15 “Thematic Tables” at centers across Rome, including the Capitoline Hill, the FAO at the United Nations, headquarters of the EU, and Roman government buildings.
The topics for discussion will include the following:
Agriculture; Environment and Sustainability; Local Administrators; Art and Literature; Children; Economy and Finance; Education; Political Training; Enterprises; Information; Artificial Intelligence; Work; Health; Sport; Third Sector.
Notably there is no planned discussion table on religion.
Giving the rationale for these discussion, organizers said:
It will be a unique opportunity to network ideas, experiences, and best practices, with the aim of giving substance to the values of fraternity and building together new perspectives for the future.
“The experience of the Tables helps us to meet and listen to one another, to get to know and recognize each other,” said Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, archpriest of the Basilica of Saint Peter.
He added:
Rediscovering fraternity and choosing words and actions rooted in our shared humanity can infuse meaning and values into the lives of institutions and businesses, hospitals and sports centers… all the way to artificial intelligence. The world needs a new ‘Alliance of Humanity’ and for us to write together a new grammar of fraternity; as Pope Leo XIV reminded us in his first audience: ‘Before being believers, we are called to be human.’
On the evening of the 13th as well, fraternity will take center stage, told through the universal language of music and the stories of those who have made it a life choice. A jubilee event to spread grace throughout the world.
This absence of religious discussion in the round tables is significant, since they are specifically designed to “to explore the meaning of being human today, collect best practices and identify concrete actions to promote in their respective fields.”
Examining the questions of human identity and purpose without reference to religion – especially in an event sponsored by official organs of the Catholic Church – is notable and controversial.
The second day will build on the work of the previous and feature a style of “synodal journey” which will seek to involve “communities around the world to recognize and illuminate ‘what it means to be human today.’”
It will gather dignitaries both secular and religious, including Nobel laureates and ranking Vatican officials, before the culmination of the weekend later that evening at St. Peter’s Square.
The evening schedule sees “an international celebration of fraternity” with musical artists gathered from across the globe who will perform on the steps in from of the Vatican. Figures such as pop artist Pharrell Williams, John Legend, Andrea Bocelli, the Diocese of Rome’s choir will be present, and there will even be a drone show.
“The event will be the culmination of two days of spiritual and cultural initiatives, serving as a multimedia platform to celebrate a great symbolic ‘human embrace,’ the power of fraternity, and shared commitment to preserving Creation,” write the organizers.
No specific mention is made of Catholicism or of events built around religious elements.
Background
The event, and indeed many such similar previous ventures, is born out of Pope Francis’ 2020 encyclical Fratelli Tutti. The text is lauded by many in the Vatican, but critics widely argue it promotes religious indifferentism, highlighting the theme of “dialogue” at the cost of the primacy of the Catholic faith.
After Fratelli Tutti’s publication, it was welcomed by the Masonic Lodge of Spain, which stated it was “the latest encyclical” of Pope Francis in which he “embraces the Universal Fraternity, the great principle of Modern Freemasonry.”
According to Church historian Roberto de Mattei, when “fraternity” is divorced from Christian charity, “far from constituting an element of cohesion in society,” it “becomes the source of its disintegration.” He argued that “if men, in the name of fraternity, are forced to live together without an end that gives meaning to their sense of belonging, the ‘ark’ becomes a prison.”
The first World Meeting on Human Fraternity was held in June 2023 and included a mass participation event which was a notable flop. It was billed as a means to demonstrate that “human fraternity is possible,” with the Vatican stating beforehand that the event would be “giving visibility and support to Pope Francis’ dream of a global human family living relationships of dialogue, solidarity and justice.”
Rap artists and dancers performed to the underwhelming crowds, before Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin signed a “Declaration of Human Fraternity” with other leaders which made no mention of Christ, God or Catholicism.
While attesting the 2023 event was a success, the 2024 version was then held behind closed doors with no option for members of the public to participate. However this year’s registration allows for people to apply to attend.
Pope Leo XIV has been praised recently by Cardinal Raymond Burke for his Christo-centric approach in the early days of his pontificate.
With interreligious fraternity and Fratelli Tutti being among the biggest legacies he has inherited from Pope Francis, it now remains to be seen what priority Leo will give to these themes and whether he will insert more Catholicity into them than his predecessor.
This is freemasonry. This is not the “business” of the Catholic Church. To be human without God is impossible. We preach Christ crucified not sitting at a round table.