{"id":2251,"date":"2026-01-07T16:00:37","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T14:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/holyseeembassy.orderofmalta.int\/?post_type=news&p=2251"},"modified":"2026-01-07T16:06:38","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T14:06:38","slug":"gioia-for-the-jubilee-and-not-only","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/holyseeembassy.orderofmalta.int\/en\/news\/gioia-for-the-jubilee-and-not-only\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cGioia\u201d for the Jubilee (and not only)"},"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-2251","news","type-news","status-publish","hentry","news_categories-news","news_tags-breaking","news_tags-humanitarian-activities"],"acf":{"news_cover":{"id":2205,"url":"https:\/\/holyseeembassy.orderofmalta.int\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/12\/FOTO-gruppo-e1764759512947.jpg"},"news_content":"

Is there a \u201cdifferent\u201d kind of diplomacy\u2014one that looks to welcoming, supporting, and helping those who are relegated to the existential peripheries so often denounced by Pope Francis. Gioia \u2014an acronym standing for Youth, commitment, employment, inclusion, hospitality \u2014is the social project conceived and implemented by the Embassy of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta to the Holy See, thanks to the commitment of Ambassador Antonio Zanardi Landi and his wife Sabina.
\nThanks to their vision and dedication, a Center for young adults with disabilities has been established at Via Ostiense 103, in the heart of Rome. \u201cThe program we have developed has several objectives,\u201d Antonio Zanardi Landi said on the sidelines of the inauguration ceremony held last night, November 25. \u201cThe first is to support families with children who have special needs and help them manage the path toward independence for these young people, who will be guests of the Center. Here they will be welcomed during the day and will be able to receive long-term vocational training.\u201d
\nThe four residential units used to create the Center for young adults with disabilities were made available free of charge by the Grand Priory of the Order of Malta, and thanks to generous donations they were renovated according to criteria that reflect every housing need of people with disabilities. \u201cPart of the renovated apartments,\u201d explains Sabina Zanardi Landi, \u201cis dedicated to the training of the twelve young people included in the project. Two of the apartments, instead, are intended to become a holiday home to welcome families with disabled members who will come to Rome also for the Jubilee.\u201d
\nThe young people participating in the project will therefore be the ones hosting guests who share their same difficulties, and the training program (entrusted to the Diversa Arte cooperative) will focus precisely on management and hospitality skills. Rosa Maria Bianco, president of the cooperative, has no doubts: \u201cThis is an important opportunity for the young people involved, because it involves both personal and professional growth, and it is in some way a double challenge for them, since there is also the chance to experiment. It is not an easy step for them or for their families.\u201d
\nThe path toward independence proposed by the Gioia project has been welcomed with great hope by the families of the young people involved. \u201cFor me and my son Marco, a glimmer of serenity is opening up,\u201d explains Antonella Cossu, a retiree. \u201cWe have tried in many directions to find a placement for Marco, with countless difficulties. Not everyone can imagine what the question \u2018What will become of them after we are gone?\u2019 means for the parents of these young people. There are many young people who have difficulties like Marco\u2019s but also great potential. Here they will have the opportunity to express it.\u201d
\nAt the inauguration of the new Center, all the local neighborhood organizations were present. \u201cWe very much hope that those who live here will look kindly upon these young people,\u201d Ambassador Zanardi Landi emphasized, \u201cand that they will show them this kindness simply with a smile, a pat on the back when they meet them on the stairs.\u201d
\nWelcoming this new reality was the Grand Master of the Order of Malta, Fra\u2019 John Timothy Dunlap, who wished the young people \u201cto discover the joy of working together on a shared project,\u201d and expressed to the parents his hope that they may feel \u201csupported and sustained in the search for a serene future for your children.\u201d
\nThis wish was echoed by Cardinal Gianfranco Ghirlanda, patron of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, who\u2014before blessing the premises made available by the Priory\u2014expressed his personal appreciation for the initiative, calling it \u201ca work that, on the eve of the Jubilee, becomes an unmistakable sign.\u201d Above all, a sign of peace, \u201cbut also a sign of solidarity,\u201d the cardinal emphasized, \u201cof friendship and mutual hospitality, because this is the fundamental value that one wishes to convey.\u201d<\/p>\n","news_gallery":"no","news_excerpt":"Is there a \u201cdifferent\u201d kind of diplomacy\u2014one that looks to welcoming, supporting, and helping those who are relegated to the existential peripheries so often denounced by Pope Francis.","focus_on":"no","breaking":"yes","evidence":"yes","hidden_news":"no","cover_image_copyrighted":false},"news_categories":[{"id":11,"name":"News","slug":"news","description":"","link":"https:\/\/holyseeembassy.orderofmalta.int\/en\/news-categories\/news\/"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/holyseeembassy.orderofmalta.int\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/notizie\/2251","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/holyseeembassy.orderofmalta.int\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/notizie"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/holyseeembassy.orderofmalta.int\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/holyseeembassy.orderofmalta.int\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/notizie\/2251\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/holyseeembassy.orderofmalta.int\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}