A jubilee of hope with MED 25

200 young people aged 20 to 30, from around the Mediterranean, are preparing to embark in turn on board the “Bel Espoir” from March 1, 2025. This three-masted schooner will sail for eight months between the shores of the Mediterranean “to spread the joy of the jubilee,” Father Alexis Leproux, one of the project leaders, told Aleteia.

“Cultivate encounter to destroy divisions.” These words from Pope Francis still resonate on the shores of the Mediterranean since his last visit to Marseille in September 2023. This is what the crew of the Bel Espoir, a sort of training ship for peace, will be working on in any case. Starting March 1, 2025 and for eight months, eight teams of 25 young people aged 20 to 30, from the five shores of the Mediterranean and of all faiths, will take turns setting off aboard a three-masted schooner. “We want to spread the joy of the jubilee to all the shores of the Mediterranean,” Father Alexis Leproux, episcopal vicar for Mediterranean relations in the diocese of Marseille, and head of the Friends of Thursday Sunday (AJD) association, a partner in the project, told Aleteia. Each group will spend two weeks aboard the boat. Trained by the AJD association - responsible for the professional integration of young people, particularly in the maritime sector - the young participants will themselves take care of the navigation of the boat. The departure is planned from Barcelona for a return to Marseille in October. The crew will stop in all the countries of the Mediterranean coast of Europe via North Africa and the Middle East, making 30 stops in total over eight months. The three-masted ship will notably stop in Palermo (Italy), Heraklion (Crete, Greece), Naples, Tetouan (Morocco), and Istanbul. A rich experience for these young Mediterranean people.

Read the rest of the article on the Aleteia website