“The Pope calls us to turn the signs of the time into signs of hope. The signs of the time are those of a Mediterranean Sea torn by discord and conflict. Inhabiting this time with care means turning what would otherwise be a source of pain into a source of hope which starts with us”. This is how mgr. Giuseppe Baturi, Secretary General of the Italian Bishops’ Conference (CEI), presented the “Prendersi cura-Una famiglia per ogni comunità” project (Taking care-A family for every community), launched in Rome today by the Mediterranean Youth Council and by the Mare Nostrum Network, to “pick up the spirit that imbued the Bishops’ meetings in Bari and Florence” and in Giorgio La Pira’s name. “An initiative – the Secretary General of the Italian Bishops’ Conference (CEI) added – that, in the historical context we live in and in the ecclesial context of the Jubilee, is truly a comfort, one of those caresses of mercy that legitimise hope”. “The Pope – Baturi went on – in recalling the theme of hope also recalls the theme of the building of our future”. “Without hope or if we are too disheartened or if we are too conceited, there’s no future to be built. We must always look at hope, believing that our wish for goodness may come true”. In addition, “there is no hope of goodness that won’t include others too”. In this sense, hope is closely connected with love, because “those who love, hope. And just like love is living for others, hope requires sharing”. “Taking care is an extraordinary thing in this time, in which we often complain of violence, indifference and neglect. Taking care means looking at other people’s pain, not pretending we haven’t heard or seen. It means supporting and escorting other people along their way. After all, in so doing, those who take care feel their own humanity as well as their own weaknesses and give perspective and a feeling of goodness and happiness to their own lives too”.