Jubilee of the Armed Forces: the military are not Rambo, but really people

More than 30,000 military from more than one hundred countries in the world have registered through the official website of the Jubileo de La Esperanza to participate in the Jubilee of the Armed Forces, scheduled for Saturday 8 and Sunday, February 9.

This was highlighted by Archbishop Rino Fisichella, proprephic of the Dicastery for Evangelization, section for the fundamental issues of evangelization in the world, at the presentation wheel of the event.

This is the second major act of the 36 planned for the Holy Year after the Jubilee of Communication, when hundreds of journalists, communicators from various parts of the world and also the communication delegates of the dioceses around the world, gathered in Rome.

At the presentation conference, held this morning, February 7, in the press room of the Holy See, the Prelate stressed that this great event is a “horizon that calls for peace.”

In this way he assured that peace “is not only an ad, but requires concrete and effective actions.”

“The next Jubilee event, therefore, is located on a horizon that imposes, in the first place, the call to peace, because it is not simply the absence of war, nor the mere balance of opposite forces, but the work of the Justice that contemplates the respect of peoples, their dignity and the practice of human brotherhood, ”said Mons. Fisichella.

Of the 30,000 registered, 20,000 come from Italy, although other countries will be highly represented such as Spain, the United States, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine, France, Brazil, Croatia, Colombia, Paraguay, Indonesia, Argentina, Switzerland, Austria, Lithuania, Belgium, Netherlands, Ecuador, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.

In addition, despite being especially committed to the security of Pope Francis and the Plaza de San Pedro, delegations of the Swiss Guard, the Gendarmerie and the Vatican Fire Department will not be missing.

Planned program

On Saturday morning, participants will tour the road of conciliation to the Holy Gate of the Vatican Basilica. In the afternoon, at 3:00 p.m. (local time), in the Piazza del Popolo, The Italian armed and police forces will meet together and the performance of several music bands is planned.

“Music is also a valid peace instrument,” said Mons. Fisichella.

The most anticipated moment will take place on Sunday morning when Pope Francis officiates the Mass in the Plaza de San Pedro, in whose liturgy the participation of military bodies is planned.

“The jubilee is Esperanza and the revive in the heart of those who work for peace and security. That is dedicated to all the populations that live in war, so that everyone is returned lost dignity, ”concluded the prelate.

Humanitarian aid in Gaza and Lebanon

In the press conference was the Admiral of Division and Chief of Staff of Italy, Fabio Agostini, who reviewed the 37 international missions of the Italian armed forces deployed in peace operations.

In total, there are more than 7,700 Italian men and women deployed in 25 countries in Europe, the Middle East and Africa as well as in the waters of the Mediterranean.

In addition, in his speech he spoke of humanitarian support to the population in places such as the Gaza or Lebanon strip.

For his part, Lieutenant Colonel Ozren Lukenda, of the Croatia Navy, General Staff Officer on the Mission Me Navfor Med-Irini He spoke of what “hope” means in the military.

This mission promoted by the European Union since March 2020 consists of an Aeronaval military operation to guarantee respect for the resolutions of the UN Security Council that prohibit arms trafficking from and to Libya from 2011.

“It translates above all to carry out peace maintenance operations, because without the hope of building peace we would have nothing,” Lukenda explained.

The military are not Rambo, but really people

Finally, Mons. Sergio Siddi, Vicar General of the Military Order of Italy, said that the military chaplains are often found in the middle of difficult situations in the middle of the war like “children who do not know how to play and do not know how to draw.”

Mons. Siddi explained that the soldiers who live away from Casa or the military of the Navy who remain in the sea in the sea, aboard military ships have also been offered the possibility of living the jubilee.

“They have not opened true holy doors, but in the chapels present inside the ships there is the possibility of living a moment of prayer and hope in this regard,” he said.

In any case, he said that under the uniform that the members of the Army are always seen “there is a person who experiences the anguish, failures, fears and sufferings of all.”

“The image of Rambo has never existed in the military world: our boys are not Rambo, but people who dedicate themselves with all their fragilities to a service that is unique,” he concluded.