Pope Leo XIV Boards the Ship of Hope: "You Represent Hope in a Divided World"

Pope Leo XIV Boards the Ship of Hope in Ostia

On Friday afternoon, Sunday the 14th went to Ostia, which is about 25 kilometers (15 miles) to the southeast of Rome, where he met up with the crew members of the Med25 Bel Espoir. This is a sailing ship that has been travelling around the Mediterranean for several months carrying 25 young people from many different countries and religions.

The Pope addressed the youth that accompanied him onboard and urged them to provide “signs of hope,” confronting hate, violence, and division through conversation with Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline from Marseille, which was the birthplace of this peace training initiative.

While onboard the ship, Pope Leo experienced wind coming off of the water while standing on the deck. Afterward, he gathered together below deck with a cup of coffee and some pastries and encouraged the young sailors to become architects and advocates for peace in this increasingly violent and separated world.

The Bel Espoir

A French ship called Le Bel Espoir has been sailing around the Mediterranean for the past eight months, visiting many ports and delivering a message of brotherhood. The Bel Espoir visited La Valletta, Tunisia, Crete, and Istanbul (and met with Patriarch Bartholomew), Ravenna, and Naples. The ship was originally going to go to Civitavecchia but was redirected to Ostia by the Pope.

A town closely linked to St. Augustine and St. Monica, the Augustinian Pope recalled his past trips to the area and remembered Ostia as being "an important port in both world history and the Church".

Indicators of Optimism

He said during his speech to the assembly, "Our unity is achievable even though we come from many different countries/language/culture/religion backgrounds because we are all part of one human race."

The Pope expressed his appreciation to the young people for their thoughtful gifts, including: a drawing of the boat; the 'White Book of the Mediterranean'; and an illustrated map with all contributors' signatures. He referred to them as “a sign of hope for the Mediterranean and the world.”

Three Fundamental Principles

To help guide them in their travels, he gave them three principles to hold onto: dialogue, bridges, and peace. "To develop a willingness to hear one another, to respect one another and to work together to solve problems through listening, developing bridges—not only over the Mediterranean Sea, but among all communities."

"I'm pretty sure there are a lot of people on board in close quarters on such a small boat... and I haven't had the chance to see below decks. We must all build a culture of working together in harmony, showing one another respect and being able to bounce back from setbacks, as he pointed out, "there's a unique chance for all of you young people to have this experience—and you will also be able to share what you have learned with the rest of us."

In addition to what the Pope said regarding the first two terms being of great importance to me as a Palestinian, mentioned by several of you, was also the third term: architects of peace. We are all created in God's image and together, as children of God, we share the world and have a shared responsibility to care for creation, support one another and work for peace around the world.

Thanking you with all my heart and all my appreciation. I really want to say thank you to you personally; "Congratulations on this achievement. This symbol of hope provides all of us with a sense of hope for the future." I wish you and your peers (and other youth like you) will continue to support initiatives like this one, which create peace worldwide. Thank you, thank you, thank you, said the Pope.

After taking a group photo and performing the song “Peace, peace, salutation,” the Bel Espoir ship left the port of Ostia for Corsica and continued spreading its message of hope and unity.