“Dear friends of the Mediterranean,” Alexis Leproux, Valletta.

Dear friends of the Mediterranean,

The meeting of peoples has made your country, for thousands of years, “a center of vitality and culture, of spirituality and beauty, a crossroads that has received and harmonized influences from many parts of the world.” (Pope Francis, Malta, April 2, 2022) Your islands are the beating heart of the Mediterranean, a land of legendary hospitality and a refuge for those who were about to be swallowed up by the sea. Malta is for all, according to its Phoenician etymology, a “safe harbor.” It is a living witness to what human beings can and must be for their neighbors: an outstretched hand, open arms to console and heal. “Others are not a virus from which to protect ourselves, but people to be accepted,” Pope Francis reminded us in Malta on April 2, 2022.
Thank you for welcoming us like this, along with these young people from all five shores, eager to build peace through the search for truth and justice. You have opened your arms and shared what lies within your heart.
Thank you to the speakers whose words highlighted the strength of spirit deployed for peace, especially in the hearts of women.
Thank you to those who came to share their desire for peace. As we all know, building peace takes time. “It is a patient effort to seek truth and justice, to honor the memory of the victims, and to open the way, step by step, to a shared hope stronger than the desire for revenge.” (Pope Francis, Fratelli tutti § 226)

Thank you to Father Jean-Claude Attard and the entire organizing team who, along with your bishops, made this Mediterranean meeting possible. As Cardinal Aveline likes to remind us, God makes himself known in the encounters he creates. We listened, shared, and learned a great deal. We better understood the extent to which Mediterranean women, despite the headwinds, are holding the helm and leading the process aimed at making the Mediterranean a new cradle of civilization.

Allow me to add to these thanks a tribute and an appeal.
First of all, a tribute to several women.
On April 16, 25-year-old photojournalist Fatima Hassouna was tragically killed when Israeli forces bombed her home in Gaza. She has become a symbol of commitment to truth, the surest foundation for peace. Her documentary "Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk" is being screened at the Cannes Film Festival in tribute to her heroic work documenting the daily lives of the people of Gaza. There is no peace without truth.
I also want to pay tribute to Mariam, a symbol of the courage it takes to pave the way for a better future for her children. With her husband and their four children aged 6 to 12, she left Libya in September 2021. She explained to SOS Méditerranée that “the only way to save my family and my children was to take to the sea. I can’t imagine my children becoming militiamen or smugglers. (…) I want my children to be well-educated, to have empathy, and to build a life worth living.”

There is no peace without courage.

Finally, I would like to mention the figure of Hanna Assouline, founder of the Warriors for Peace. This movement brings together Jewish and Muslim women with the common goal of promoting peace, justice, and equality. "Their nomination for the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize is a strong signal to all those fighting for peace across cultural and religious boundaries. As activists, these women remind us of the great struggle that must be waged: to defend human life by silencing the noise of weapons and vengeance. Those responsible for wars are not only those who start them, but also those who, out of indifference, do not do everything to prevent them. There is no peace without struggle."

These women are not exceptions. They are beacons. They are paving the way for a fairer, more equitable, and more united Mediterranean. Remember the adage: "If you want to know the true level of civilization in a country, analyze the situation of women in that country." If we want to make the Mediterranean a cradle of civilization and prosperity, and no longer a field of ruins and a cemetery, let us examine the situation of women in our regions. Let us give them a voice and march with and behind them. There are many of them, unfortunately invisible and inaudible, who work tirelessly for peace.

This prompts me to launch a call, a triple call, not only to the young people who will embark on the Bel Espoir on Monday, but also to each of us who remain on land. Because the obstacles are still numerous, and women are paying a heavy price in war, the climate crisis, and exile.
There is no peace without security for women. It is time to end impunity and strengthen legislation. Human trafficking, particularly that of women in the Mediterranean, is intolerable. The fight against violence against women must be a Mediterranean cause supported by all states. We must educate boys and raise awareness among men to make this fight a shared responsibility for all.
Building peace begins with education and open-mindedness. An educated girl becomes a free woman. And a free woman means a society moving forward. We must strengthen girls' access to education and support the mobility of students and researchers. Women's access to the highest levels of responsibility must be a priority, whether in the fields of culture, economics, or politics.

Finally, can we reasonably dream of a Mediterranean of peace without the "revolution of kindness" desired by Pope Francis? On this day when we celebrate his funeral, we are in communion with the College of Cardinals, with Catholics throughout the world, but also with all the peoples of the earth who, in one way or another, join in our mourning. Pope Francis recalled this as a testament: "Peace is therefore born of women, it is born and revived from the tenderness of mothers. Thus, the dream of peace becomes a reality when we turn to women." (March 8, 2019, speech before a delegation of the American Jewish Committee). Kindness, smiles, affection, and closeness, undoubtedly inspired by his grandmother, have always been the strong characteristics of his mission. For those who have chosen to rest at Santa Maria Maggiore, it is evident that "every time we look at Mary, we believe anew in the revolutionary nature of love and tenderness. In her, we see that humility and tenderness are not virtues of the weak, but of the strong who do not need to mistreat others in order to feel important themselves." (Evangelii Gaudium 288)

I thank Malta for hosting this moment of reflection and peacebuilding. The Bel Espoir, like your country, wishes to be a witness to Mediterranean hospitality. May the ship sail, strengthened by its encounter with Malta, with this deep conviction: "Women, in fact, with their unique capacity for compassion, their intuitiveness and their natural inclination to 'care,' are capable, in an exceptional way, of being for society both 'intelligence and a heart that loves and unites,' of bringing love where love is lacking, and humanity where human beings are searching for their true identity." (Pope Francis, March 7, 2024)

Alexis Leproux, April 27, 2025, Valletta