Ambassadors to the Holy See Literary Award 2022

On 14 September 2022, an award ceremony was held in Rome for Fausta Speranza‘s bookIl senso della sete. L’acqua tra geopolitica, diritti, arte e spiritualità (Infinito edizioni).

The award was conferred to the author by the Ambassador of Italy to the Holy See Francesco Di Nitto and the Head of the European Union Delegation to the Holy See, Ambassador Alexandra Valkenburg, respectively Vice President and President of the Jury of the Ambassadors to the Holy See Literary Award.

Before the delivery of the award, Ambassador Valkenburg recalled the close interconnection – highlighted in the book– between the theme of water and some issues of international importance such as the protection of human rights and climate change. The Ambassador stressed the strategic importance of water for the European Union, particularly for sustainable development, poverty reduction, food and nutrition security, human development, environment and climate action, protection of biodiversity and ecosystems, humanitarian action for peace and stability; and the importance of water as a human right.

The author Fausta Speranza stated, in her intervention, that the idea of the book came to her while reading the Encyclical Laudato Sì by Pope Francis, particularly from the concept that “everything is interconnected”, that is to say that “you can’t think about natural system without considering social systems and vice versa”. She added, “The Encyclical Laudato Sì warns us that – with global challenges and relationships, and inequalities too deep to be sustainable – only a cultural horizon focused on the defense of the common good can save the mankind. The first of urgencies is to recover the meaning of the common good, keeping in mind future generations”.