Maison de la Paix || Casa Universale delle Culture (EN)

 

CASA UNIVERSALE DELLE CULTURE

The Maison de la Paix - Casa Universale delle Culture is a place strongly representative, in which will convey the knowledge of the different identities and cultures, structuring permanently initiatives aimed at the spreading of peace, necessary for the shared development.

The Maison de la Paix - Casa Universale delle Culture (MdP) is a project conceived by Michele Capasso, approved by many Countries and international organizations. It is an architecture that keeps the memory of many Peace activities which created history, often more than the wars, but it is – above all – a space "to build” Peace.

The architectonical complex has an important symbolic worth: it represents the Countries of the World engaged in the Peace process and the Countries victim of the conflicts.

Proposed by the Fondazione Mediterraneo with the Maison des Alliances – together with the main adherent organizations, such as the Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly, the League of Arab States, the "Anna Lindh" Euro-Mediterranean Foundation and others, the MdP represents a referent point for all the ones who dedicate their lives to peace.

The symbol of the MdP is the "Totem for Peace", an artwork by the Italian sculptor Mario Molinari which the Fondazione Mediterraneo is promoting all around the world, creating the network of the "Cities for Peace".

The first seat of the MdP was inaugurated on the 14th of June 2010 (Maison de la Paix - Casa Universale delle Culture) in the historical building of the Grand Hotel de Londres in Naples.

The action of the Maison de la Paix - Casa Universale delle Culture aims at improving the main activities of the "Universal Forum of Cultures" in: Barcelona (2004), Monterrey (2007), Valparaiso (2010) and Naples (2013).

The Maison de la Paix performs most of the initiatives jointly with the Maison de la Méditerranée.

 

The renowned artist, Giuseppe Antonello Leone, publicly acclaimed the book “Nostro Mare Nostro” by Michele Capasso (Ed. D Libri – Fondazione Mediterraneo) highlighting the pragmatism and concrete actions taken by Michele Capasso over the last twenty years to promote dialogue and of peace. “This book demonstrates the importance of dialogue, democracy and human rights in Euro-Mediterranean cooperation. It should be considered as an example for all of us”.

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Vittorio Di Pace publicly acclaimed the book “Nostro Mare Nostro” by Michele Capasso (Ed. DLibri – Fondazione Mediterraneo) highlighting  the pragmatism and concrete actions taken by Michele Capasso over the last twenty years in favour of dialogue and of peace.
“This book demonstrates the importance of dialogue, democracy and human rights in Euro-Mediterranean cooperation. It should be considered as an example for all of us”.

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With this message, we would like to bring to your attention some very disconcerting news regarding Father Paolo dall'Oglio, the Abbot of the Mar Musa Monastery in Syria and winner of the first Anna Lindh EuroMed Award 2006 for Dialogue among Cultures on the theme of Mutual Respect among People of Different Religions or Any Other Belief. As reported by many sources, the Syrian government has ordered his expulsion. (See: AsiaNews, one of the most important international Catholic News Agencies, Famiglia Cristiana, the most important Christian magazine in Italy, as well as the Aljazeera blog and news (video in Arabic with Greek subtitles). Many young Syrians who acknowledge him for his mission in support of fraternity, respect and dignity, have launched a Facebook page in Arabic named "No to the expulsion of Father Paolo", supported by thousands of people. We have spoken to him personally. He is in good health but concerned about the possibility of an expulsion, which would put an end to more than three decades of living in Syria. For those who are not familiar with his work, the Jesuit priest, Father Paolo, is a renowned proponent of dialogue between Christians and Muslims and has relentlessly worked for inter-faith harmony in the country for the last three decades. He has been committed to efforts for internal reconciliation, based on negotiation and freedom of expression, particularly in the current crisis, taking a courageous stance against the repression of protestors (see A Letter from Father Paolo to the Syrians, in Arabic).The Anna Lindh Foundation and the Fondazione Mediterraneo applaud the example of Father Paolo and support his unrelenting work. They would like to call upon all of you to support his humble but unwaverving commitment for reconciliation and his intercultural mission in Syria and the whole region, for which he deservedly earned the 2006 Anna Lindh Euromed Award. We would be grateful for any initiative you might take for the safety and work of Father Paolo, especially by urging the appropriate instances in your respective countries to take action in favor of his mission, in the context of what is being done in defense of human rights and dialogue in Syria.

Video 1

Video 2

The Euromed Award to Father dall’Oglio