Pope Francis received the 2015 AISES Young Award “Standing on the shoulders of giants”.
The painting “Pope for Hope” was prepared by young African children.
April 27th, 2016 – At the Pope’s public audience in St. Peter’s Square, during which the parable of the Good Samaritan was read, Valerio De Luca, President of International Academy AISES, and Gregoire Piller, President of Diomira Foundation and AISES Director for African Affairs, delivered the 2015 AISES Young gift to His Holiness, in the presence of both AISES Young Delegation, guided by its President Erminio Sergio, and AISES Delegation.
The gift is an example of “poor art”, a painting prepared by the poor young inhabitants of the Mukuru Slums of Nairobi that the Diomira Foundation daily assists with regards to healthcare, education and sports. The title of the work is “Pope for Hope”, and it recalls the motivation chosen by AISES Young members for the 2015 Award:
To His Holiness for His attention towards the new generations and the problem of intergenerational equity; for His commitment to the topic of climate change and respect of the environment; for defining interreligious dialogue as “a necessary mean for peace on Earth”; for underlining the need for a “new universal spirit of solidarity and reciprocal help” in the Encyclical Laudato Sì; for His guidance towards a sustainable future in the same Encyclical.
During the delivery of the gift, President De Luca announced to the Pope the Global Sustainability Forum (GSF), which will be held in Rome in 2017, to move from the international agreements with regards to sustainability to global action taken by all stakeholders of our society. The GSF will be officially presented by Khalid Malik, Chairman of GSF and former Director of UNDP Human Development Report Office, at the High-Level Roundtable, organized by the International Academy AISES and held on May 10th at the Center for American Studies, in Rome.
AISES delegation: Valerio De Luca, Gregoire Piller, Angelo Anav, AISES Secretary General, Andreina Draghi, AISES Director Culture and Development, Imam Yahya Pallavicini, Co.Re.Is. Vice President, the AISES Young Delegation (Erminio Sergio, Flavia Mattioli, Filippo Santarelli, Ludovica Fucà).
