Istanbul Athens

July 5 – July 20, 2025
Environment and development

Program

Saturday, July 5th

Morning: self-guided tour of Saint Sauveur in Chora

11:30 a.m.: Working groups

12:30 p.m.: Welcome lunch at the Dominican Convent

3:30 p.m.: Round table on integral ecology in the service of peace in the Mediterranean, with Claudio Monge OP, at the Dominican Convent

6:30 p.m.: Celebration at the Armenian Catholic Cathedral in the presence of Cardinal Aveline

7:30 p.m.: Meeting of young people and bishops on the theme of Peace and the environment

Sunday, July 6

8:30 a.m. – 9:15 a.m.: Working groups

10 a.m.: Orthodox service at the Patriarchal Cathedral of Saint George (Phanar)

11 a.m.: Meeting with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I^er

12:30 p.m.: Lunch in town

2 p.m. – 6 p.m.: Visit to the Süleymaniye Mosque and the Cistern

7 p.m.: Presentation of the Mar Yam group at the AJD on the Bel Espoir

8 p.m.: Dinner and overnight stay on the boat

Monday, July 7

8:30 a.m. - 10 a.m.: Breakfast at the Palais de France and meeting with the Consul General of France

10:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.: Climate fresco hosted by Blandine Arvis

1:00 p.m.: Lunch at Galataport

2-3 p.m.: Presentation of the port and the city of Istanbul at Galataport

Tuesday, July 8 – Wednesday, July 16 

Navigation in the Sea of Marmara and the Aegean Sea

Thursday, July 17, 2025

7:00 p.m.: Meeting at the parish of Saint Paul (Piraeus), with the association Praesentia

Friday, July 18, 2025

9 a.m.-11 a.m.: Meeting of an Orthodox community, with the Focolare

12:30: Lunch at the Maison de la Famille with the John XXIII community

4:30-6:30 p.m.: Round table at the Cathedral with young participants from MED 25, Marios Attala and Benoist de Sinety

7:00 p.m.: Peace ceremony in the gardens of the Catholic cathedral, with Mgr. Théodore Kodidis

7:30 p.m.: Dinner in the cathedral gardens

Saturday, July 19, 2025

9 a.m.: Finalization and synthesis of the working groups

1 p.m.: Closing lunch on the boat

2 p.m.: Free time and departure of young people

About

The fifth stage of the MED 25 Le Bel Espoir odyssey will focus on the environmental challenges of the Mediterranean basin. Faced with tragic droughts and deadly fires, aware that the sea cannot be a toxic dump, all bordering peoples have a high responsibility to raise awareness of the primary meaning of this shared basin, a vital resource for all. By taking up certain specific questions that arise from the degradation of this particular biome, several areas of commitment will be defined to maintain the protection and fair distribution of resources, without which peace becomes impossible.

"We must learn to live with the sense of 'limit' and the limitation of resources not as an obstacle to our achievement, our pleasure and our rights as consumers, but rather as a new frontier on which personal satisfaction and collective progress are drawn." Gianluca Solera, Network Coordinator, Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation for Dialogue between Cultures.

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