Nurturing Youthful Humanism

Two Hundred Books Illustrating the Pope’s Words

The visit to Bologna of Pope Francis in October 2017 – in times marked by an urgent need for a “new Humanism” – prompted BolognaFiere and the Bologna Children’s Book Fair to organize, in collaboration with the Church of Bologna, a far-reaching exhibition dedicated to young readers and their families on major contemporary issues - often raised by His Holiness - in terms understandable to children.

Sponsored by IBBY Italia and the Emilia-Romagna Regional Education Bureau, the exhibition was inaugurated at the Basilica di San Domenico. It was subsequently moved to the Basilica dei Santi Bartolomeo e Gaetano, where it was open to the public until January 2018.

The exhibition comprises 200 picturebooks selected from the Bologna Children's Book Fair dealing with nine different issues that concern us today. These range from the concept of “joyful sobriety”, unity and dialogue, work and the dignity it affords, through to environmental safeguard, the topical issue of migration, peace and democracy, but also key concerns of the Holy Father like diversability, and education and culture made accessible to all.

Many side activities were planned during the exhibition. Their primary target were schools. A guided tour using illustrations and words helped children, young adults and teachers discover the books on display and reflect on questions like peace, dialogue, difference, encounters, the environment, our Earth, the world’s different geographies, work as a human right, and the resonance of simple yet profound actions.