“Fede, ultima speranza” – Book presentation

“Fede, ultima speranza”

Storie di religiosi in aree di conflitto

the Author

Andrea Angeli

will be in conversation with

Ambassador Maurizio Massari

Permanent Representative of Italy to the United Nations in NY

Archbishop Gabriele G. Caccia

Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations in NY

The outbreak of conflict rekindles religious faith among the affected populations, among men and women seeking hope and consolation. Ancient devotions are rediscovered, and people reconnect with priests, nuns, Orthodox priests, imams, and rabbis. Sometimes these are genuine choices, in other cases almost obligatory, because the religious figures do not abandon the field; they remain on the front lines, ready to assist the defenseless, even at the cost of their own lives. These are the stories of an Italian UN official who has spent thirty years on peacekeeping missions and met with many religious figures on the front lines, from Chile to Iraq, from Cambodia to East Timor, from the Balkans to Afghanistan. Intrepid missionaries, Rambo-like nuns, military chaplains, inspirational bishops, unconventional monsignors, austere Vatican diplomats, but also besieged archimandrites and wandering rabbis, all described by those who knew them firsthand during the most dramatic moments of their pastoral work. Witnesses of peace, as President Sergio Mattarella recently said in remembering Father Dell’Oglio, are protagonists of history. It is therefore worth revisiting and exploring their figures. Foreword by Cardinal Camillo Ruini.