Dear Friends,
Enough is enough.
Enough destruction, enough death, enough violence.
We must shout it aloud, ring it with bells and proclaim it in every possible way — as many have done — to break the silence and halt this relentless march toward the destruction and massacre of innocent lives in the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
We want to make noise, as so many others are doing — believers and non-believers, women and men of goodwill, people of all backgrounds and ages — to once again raise our voices and demand a ceasefire.
We all strongly condemn the October 7th tragedy caused by Hamas. We firmly reject all forms of terrorism, all wars — even those that remain unnoticed — but together we must also say enough to the killing of innocents.
“We want peace!”
Just a few days ago, Pope Leo XIV made this call, together with young people from around the world gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the Jubilee.
And the Italian President Sergio Mattarella spoke clearly and forcefully:
“The situation in Gaza is becoming more dramatic and intolerable with each passing day; we hope that the announced pauses will translate into genuine ceasefires,” he said, stressing that “starving an entire population, from children to the elderly, is inhumane.”
“Break the silence.” That is what a group of professors from the University of Padua and many other voices from the academic world are urgently calling for in a petition published recently in The Lancet.
As CUAMM, we have also signed it to denounce “the severe food insecurity and risk of starvation for the entire population, and a life expectancy at birth reduced by around 35 years in 2024.”
That signature is a way to say loud and clear: in the face of such atrocities — even if they are happening far from where we work — we have the responsibility to make noise. Just as it is a moral imperative and a concrete daily commitment for us to always keep Africa and its development at the center, and to make every effort to seek paths of dialogue, of listening to others, of mutual welcome and respect.
We will bear witness to all of this on November 22 in Padua, during the CUAMM Annual Meeting.
It is our tangible way of joining all men and women of goodwill to build a shared path toward the future — beyond political and ideological divisions — along the road of dialogue, understanding, and peace.
Father Dante Carraro – CUAMM Director General
© Photo by Mohammed Ibrahim
