From port to port, the sailboat Bel Espoir weaves an unexpected brotherhood among young people from the five shores of the Mediterranean. Departing on March 1st, 2025, for eight months of sailing and eight stages, this "boat for peace" that welcome on board groups of 25 young people is much more than a symbol: a living laboratory where dialogue, cooperation, and communal life are experimented with. And this despite the headwinds of history and geopolitics. In September, it will reach Ravenna and Bari, then it will be Naples before completing its journey on October 25 in Marseille.
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Le Bel Espoir, a boat for peace in the Mediterranean – 22-med on September 10, 2025 – Olivier Martocq - #peace #mediterranean #youth #brotherhood #interfaithdialogue #sailing #belEspoir #AGIDE #cardinalAveline #whitepaper #AlexisLeproux
• The sailboat Bel Espoir sails the Mediterranean with young people from all its shores.
• Each sailing stage becomes a training in brotherhood
• The experience feeds into a “White Paper on Mediterranean Youth”
By Olivier Martocq - journalist
The idea was born from a dream, almost unachievable: to sail a ship between the five shores of the Mediterranean (North Africa, the Balkans, Latin Europe, the Black Sea, and the Middle East) to offer young people the concrete experience of lived brotherhood. “Since 2021, with Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline, we had launched a Mediterranean process for peace. After the meetings in Marseille concluded by Pope Francis and the President of the Republic in 2023, it was necessary to give this process a concrete face, an embodied dynamic,” explains Alexis Leproux, episcopal vicar of the diocese of Marseille for Mediterranean relations. Thus, the project of Bel Espoir was born. A traditional sailboat capable of connecting the ports of the region, and above all, transforming the journey into a school of communal life.
Le Bel Espoir, a story already inhabited
The chosen ship is not insignificant. The Bel Espoir already carries a memory: that of Father Jaouen, who, with his association, had made sailing a tool for reintegration for young people in difficulty. “Finding this sailboat was like providence,” smiles Father Leproux. Instead of a possible transatlantic journey, the association AJD, which deploys various programs on board, is sensitive to the project of training young people through the sea and, at the same time, introducing them to dialogue and peacebuilding.
Life on board: learning brotherhood
This is not a cruise. Each stage brings together about thirty young people aged 19 to 35, coming from about fifteen different countries. Christians, Muslims, non-religious, sometimes Israelis and Palestinians, sometimes Serbs and Kosovars: the selection aims to create a fragile but essential balance to send a strong signal to the populations of this Mediterranean “fractured continent.” Together, they learn to sail, share daily tasks, face the same constraints: cooking, cleaning, steering, raising the sails. Brotherhood is not a slogan: it is lived in fatigue, joy, and cooperation. Meals become moments of discovery, evenings open up to singing and dancing, and night watches create a rare complicity.
The challenges and obstacles
Finding a ship was the first difficulty. Gathering funding was the second. Then came the young people: 450 applications for 150 spots, a sign of a tremendous thirst for encounters. But the most painful hurdle remains that of visas: about ten refusals, often received the day before departure, prevented some selected young people from joining the crew. Even supported by the French state, the Church, and dozens of consuls, the project faced the administrative complexity of the Schengen area. These refusals say a lot about the Mediterranean fracture.
And then there are the vagaries of the sea and the world: a docking canceled in Lebanon on the day of a missile exchange between Israel and Iran, coastal fires in Albania and Turkey, sudden storms reminding that sailing remains a school of humility.
Building peace in action
Each session is not just a journey: it is also a collective effort. The young people dedicate one to two hours each day to reflect together on a theme – ecology, equal opportunities, interfaith dialogue. From their discussions gradually emerges a “White Paper on Mediterranean Youth” intended to be submitted to the authorities.
Thus, the Bel Espoir becomes a floating agora. English, the lingua franca of this generation, allows overcoming language barriers. The shared experience establishes another grammar: that of respect, listening, and cooperation.
Stories of brotherhood
“What strikes is the ability of these young people to create a community in two weeks,” explains Father Leproux. He observes: “At each stage, the group crystallizes around a project: for some around music, others through sports, and still others through the care given to shared meals. Friendship, joy, and creativity are present. Differences do not disappear; they become a richness. Everyone leaves transformed, convinced that another Mediterranean is possible.”
Armada for peace
On October 25, 2025, the Bel Espoir will complete its peaceful maritime odyssey in Marseille, fulfilling the dream outlined by Pope Francis. Will the new pope, Leo XIV, be present? One certainty: Marseille Espérance, the association created in 1990 that brings together the city’s religious leaders – Catholics, Muslims, Buddhists, Jews, Orthodox, and Protestants – will not miss this symbolic meeting. On its part, the association, Svan,
will prepare for the occasion an “Armada for peace in the Mediterranean.” It was already the organizer in 2024 of the welcome for the Belem and the Olympic flame, with a demonstration under sail of the traditional vessels from the Société Nautique de Marseille’s tradition pole.
Twenty-five historic sailboats will race this time in the harbor, escorted by the kites from the French pole. “We will have on board the young people who participated in the last stage of the odyssey, but also Marseille residents who are members of our inclusion/integration pole. The welcome route of the Bel Espoir has been designed so that residents can come in large numbers to witness this parade before its entry into the Old Port,” explains Guillaume Wattinne, in charge of the program. At noon, all the bells of the city will ring in unison. Marseille will then pay tribute to an extraordinary maritime and human adventure, concluded by a popular and ecumenical celebration on the esplanade of the
Museum of Civilizations of Europe and the Mediterranean (MUCEM).
Alexis Leproux, episcopal vicar of the diocese of Marseille for Mediterranean relations. He entered the seminary at 18, pursued biblical studies in Jerusalem and Rome, served as a chaplain and Bible teacher, before joining in 2021 the Mediterranean process for peace initiated by Cardinal Aveline.
Cover photo: The Bel Espoir sails the Mediterranean with young people from all its shores © DR