Rome, June 2025
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Human Fraternity in a Divided World: Writers Engage the Legacy of Pope Francis
Rome, Villa Malta, June 9-10, 2025
In the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic, Pope Francis set out a hopeful vision of human equality and fraternity in his 2020 encyclical Fratelli Tutti (“Brothers and Sisters All”). While acknowledging deep divisions and a pervasive “globalized indifference,” Francis called for a vibrant “culture of encounter” to bring people together, across divides, around shared concerns and common projects. Five years later, the Georgetown Global Dialogues brought leading novelists and public intellectuals to Rome to explore the theme of human fraternity in our divided world. Download the program from Rome, and sign up to receive updates about GGD events, webinars, and essays by the GGD fellows.
GGD Rome was co-sponsored by the Dicastery for Culture and Education, the All of Us Foundation, La Civiltà Cattolica, and the Georgetown Rome Office.
Conversations
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Image Gallery
Image Gallery
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Paul Elie and Cardinal Tolentino address the audience for "Literature, Social Friendship, and the Culture of Encounter: A Keynote Conversation."
Zadie Smith answers an audience members question for "Literature and the Revitalization of the Common Good."
Pankaj Mishra and Naomi Klein speak on "Mimetic Desire and Resentment as Barriers to Human Fraternity."
Mohsin Hamid and Ranjit Hoskote speak during "Literature and the Transcendent in a Global Frame."
Nesrine Malik, Kamila Shamsie, Juan Gabriel Vásquez, and Debora Tonelli.
Hisham Matar addresses the audience in "Writers, Isolation, and Rebuilding Community."
Paul Elie, Zadie Smith, and Javier Cercas together on a panel for "The Diminished Dialogue between Faith and Literature."
Jennifer Szalai answers an audience question during "Literature between Technological Dreams and Human Frailty."
Safwan Masri, Nesrine Malik, and Ranjit Hoskote.
Jennifer Szalai, Ece Temelkuran, and Hisham Matar on a panel for "Exile and Literature in a Fragmented World."
Kamila Shamsie on a panel for "Cultural and Religious Pluralism as a Literary Frame."
Thomas Banchoff, Nesrine Malik, and Pankaj Mishra listen to audience questions during "Culture, Politics, and Futures for Human Fraternity."
Georgetown Global Dialogues speakers, fellows, and guests, gathered on the patio outside of the conference.