Building a civilisation of love

“The civilization of love will not arise from a single or spectacular gesture, but from the sum total of small and steadfast acts of fidelity that serve as a bulwark against dehumanization”. 

The publication in May 2026 of Pope Leo’s first encyclical letter, Magnifica Humanitas, was welcomed by many as a breath of fresh air in a world polluted by violence and war, well beyond the borders of the Catholic Church. Rather than yet another divisive statement of an exclusive identity, the encyclical openly strove “to engage in dialogue with all men and women of our time”, calling on others “to collaborate in promoting the integral development of every human being”. That is to say, by its very approach and reach, the encyclical embodied and bore witness to its content and concerns, namely “the pressing duty to remain profoundly human” and the effort to counteract “the spread of a culture of power characterized by polarization and violence”.

Convergence 2027 wants to put Magnifica Humanitas at its ideal centre, not as a manifesto to wave but as a point of reference for identifying stories of humanity capable of offering hope in these dark times.

In particular, we want to focus on those elements that the Pope identifies as pointing towards the daily responsibility of all of us, not just the powerful and the rich. These include especially “the need to disarm words, building peace through justice, adopting the perspective of victims, and cultivating a healthy realism”.

By focusing on and giving space to concrete examples in which these paths are already being lived (rather than merely talking about them in a theoretical way), Convergence will hopefully make its small, yet necessary (like all others), contribution to building the civilisation of love.