ROME — A gathering framed around peace and the Franciscan tradition is set to bring together Russia’s ambassador to Italy, Iranian representatives, Cuban and Venezuelan diplomats and a cluster of prominent Italian voices associated with pro-Russian and/or anti-Western positions just outside Rome.
The event’s language is telling. Its organizers ask what should follow the end of the “Occidens Pacis Ordo” (Latin for “Western Order of Peace”) and point toward a new “Novus Pacis Ordo” (Latin for “New Order of Peace”) — placing the gathering within the debate over a Western-led versus “multipolar” international order.
Why it matters: The religious and peace-oriented framing sits alongside a lineup with a clear geopolitical profile.
- Russian Ambassador Alexey Paramonov gives Moscow a direct institutional presence at the gathering.
- He will be joined by Iranian representatives, including Ayatollah Mohammad Hossein and former diplomat Ali Asghar Soltanieh, as well as Cuban and Venezuelan diplomats.
- The presence of representatives from Moscow, Tehran, Havana and Caracas puts governments outside — and often opposed to — the Western geopolitical mainstream at the center of an event framed around peace, St. Francis and the future of the international order.
Who’s who: The Italian lineup includes Roberto Vannacci, a former Italian Army general and now a political figure known for his nationalist positions.
- Among the others:
- Marcello Foa, a journalist and former RAI chairman;
- Vladimiro Giacché, an economist and essayist often critical of Western economic orthodoxy;
- Gabriele Guzzi, an economist and commentator;
- Simone Pillon, a lawyer and former senator associated with socially ultra-conservative positions and critical of Western emancipation;
- Michele Santoro, a veteran leftist journalist and TV host known for his outspoken criticism of mainstream politics;
- Antonio Maria Rinaldi, an economist and former MEP linked to Eurosceptic positions;
- Lucio Caracciolo, a leading Italian geopolitical analyst and Editor-in-Chief of the foreign affairs magazine Limes.
Zoom in: Franciscan experience, pro-Russia propaganda. The event is called “Peace tables: a Franciscan experience, an eternal Italian challenge. From the end of the Occidens Pacis Ordo toward which Novus Pacis Ordo?” and is organized by Fondazione Fides et Ratio E.T.S., a Catholic-inspired cultural foundation linked to the intellectual tradition of John Paul II’s encyclical Fides et Ratio, focused on dialogue between faith, philosophy and public life.
- It is scheduled to take place in Formello, outside Rome, between late August and early September.
- The organizers also use the patronage of the National Committee for the celebration of the eighth centenary of the death of St. Francis: the result is a clear contrast between the Franciscan language of peace and a parterre that includes representatives of countries such as Russia engaged in a war of aggression against Ukraine.
The Russian connection: Paramonov gives the gathering a direct institutional link to Moscow.
- Around him is a broader Italian constellation that includes figures associated with pro-Russian positions or strong criticism of Western policies. Vannacci is among the most politically prominent names, while Caracciolo, Foa and others add to a lineup focused heavily on the debate over the West and the emerging “multipolar” order.
- The Iranian presence is similarly institutional, while the participation of Cuban and Venezuelan diplomats widens the gathering beyond the Russia-West confrontation.
Between the lines: The event comes against a particularly sensitive backdrop for Italy’s debate over Russia. The ambiguity behind the Colleferro explosion has raised the question of Russian sabotage in Italy, adding another layer of scrutiny to Moscow-related activity in Rome.
- The blast at the Colleferro arms factory — for which any link to Russian sabotage has already been ruled out by the Ministry of Defence — has nonetheless seen its aftermath and imagery circulate online within narratives amplified by Russian propaganda channels. On the other side, the Formello event unfolds under a pacifist framing, a narrative strand often promoted by the Kremlin, and brings together leading Italian figures associated with pro-Russian and anti-Western messaging.
- The random overlap of the two developments perfectly outlines a broader and more complex picture of the hybrid threats that are currently converging around Rome.
The political angle: Justice Minister Carlo Nordio and Forza Italia Senator Maurizio Gasparri are among the Italian political names listed, alongside the announced presence of senior members of Italy’s armed forces, giving the program an institutional layer that sits uneasily within the broader lineup.
- Rumors, however, suggest that several political and institutional participants could ultimately pull out, making the final attendance list one of the key elements to watch as the event approaches.
- “What are Justice Minister Nordio, Senator Gasparri, and senior military officials doing in dialogue with the Russian ambassador in an initiative with such ambiguous intent?” Democratic Party MP Lia Quartapelle — vice-chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee at the Italian Chamber of Deputies known for her Atlanticist and pro-Western positions — commented.
- “Perhaps someone in government should respond,” she suggested.
The big picture: The event combines three ingredients:
- the language of peace,
- the symbolic legacy of St. Francis,
- an explicit discussion about what comes after the Western-led international order.
- Its guest list gives that discussion a clear geopolitical coloring. Representatives from Moscow, Tehran, Havana and Caracas will share the setting with Italian figures associated, in different ways, with criticism of the West and sympathy toward a multipolar alternative.
- This anti-Western line is also gaining ground in Italy ahead of next year’s general elections, increasingly positioning itself as an alternative to the transatlantic, pro-Western alignment that Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government has sought to maintain throughout its mandate.
What we’re watching: Who actually shows up in Formello will matter, particularly among the Italian institutional figures currently on the program.
- But the bigger question is what message emerges from the gathering itself — and whether the vocabulary of peace becomes the framework for a broader pro-Russian and “multipolar” narrative on Italian soil.
