On several occasions, Pope Francis has called on everyone to take concrete steps for peace. “The Economy of Francesco” has decided to take this invitation seriously and thousands of young people are already ready to set off, on foot, towards Jerusalem. It will be a pilgrimage “divided into parts” to remember all the wars that inflame the world, in which anyone can participate by donating their "steps" through a mobile application: a relay race across the five continents.

St. Francis, 800 years ago, set off unarmed from Assisi to Cairo to meet the Sultan of Egypt al-Malik al-Kamil. Such gesture is considered by many to be one of the most significant gestures of dialogue and peace in history. Similarly, the youth of the Economy of Francesco are preparing to travel the 4,000 kilometers (8 million steps) that separate Jerusalem from the city of Assisi.

In fact, young people from all over the world will be able to organize in groups or on their own to walk a few kilometers to donate to Steps for Peace. When enough kilometers have been reached to ideally cover the distance that separates Assisi from Jerusalem, and the countdown of steps exceeds eight million, a delegation of the Economy of Francesco will go to Jerusalem. Together, they will call for Peace, with the same poverty of words and diplomatic strategies that animated St. Francis 800 years ago; with the same diplomacy on their knees that today's Francis calls for.

To organize walks and pilgrimages for Peace, to contribute a few miles to Steps for Peace, or to ask how to cooperate with your organization to raise awareness and support for the initiative, simply contact the organizers through the form available at www.francescoeconomy.org by clicking on the Steps for Peace banner. 

The need to walk serves to highlight Laudato Si''s focus on integral ecology. For an economy that recognizes the complexity of relationships that today include the cry of the poor and victims of war, tragically linked to the cry of the Earth.

This walk “divided into parts” is aimed not only at achieving the completion of a symbolic challenge, but at finding the "legs" on which to make the economy of the gospel walk, along streets all over the world and in virtual squares. Participants willing to donate their steps will be called, in fact, in the places they will reach on foot, to promote meetings and involve organizations working on peace issues, or even just to read with some fellow travelers the pact signed by those of the Economy of Francesco with the Pope.

Thus, Assisi from being a city of dialogue for Peace, will return to being the place from which to start, on the road, to plead for peace.

Thus, Assisi, the city of dialogue for peace, will once again be the starting point for the journey of imploring peace.