Meeting in the Vatican in preparation for the World Children’s Day with Pope Francis: can happiness be bought?

Pope Francis invites everyone to answer this question.

The Pope is beaming and amused with all these children surrounding him and making confusion. Like a true grandfather he has a smile and a word for everyone.

The World Meeting on Human Fraternity was a bit like the "technical rehearsal" of the GMB, the World Children's Day which will be held on 25 and 26 May in Rome.

"With the signing of the Declaration on brotherhood - said the coordinator of the Gmb, Father Enzo Fortunato - we are starting the World Children's Day. At the Olympic Stadium on the 25th we are expecting 72 thousand people including children and care-givers, then on the 26th we will see what happens in San Peter". Fortunato showed the Pope a Gospel by Don Pino Puglisi, who worked so hard to take children out from the streets, which will be the relic of the GMB.

"We sometimes think that the future of humanity is embodied in adults who can do things" and instead "the future of humanity - Pope Francis indicated - is in the two ends, children and the elderly, and in the encounter of children with grandparents. We must take care of children, of old people, of grandparents". Then he showed a child who, during the event, was sleeping peacefully, despite the confusion, in his mother's arms. "This child sleeps, he doesn't defend himself, he is safe because he is in his mother's arms. We must be like him with God."

At the meeting were, among others: Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, the president of the Community of Sant'Egidio Marco Impagliazzo, and Aldo Cagnoli, aircraft commander and writer, who is among the organizers of the Gmb, together with the Auxilium cooperative.

The former president of Bambino Gesù, Mariella Enoc, presented the project which will be "a concrete sign" of today's event: a telemedicine network involving Italian hospitals and the rest of the world. "The project was born from the knowledge of many children who need to be cared for. It will be made available to all children, especially the most forgotten ones", he announced, reporting that the project is currently supported by two American foundations.