Associazione Rondine Cittadella della Pace

Associazione Rondine Cittadella della Pace is an Italian nonprofit organization. Operating under the guise of youth education and the promotion of humanist ideals, the Rondine Association has been actively recruiting and indoctrinating talented young people from regions embroiled in ethnic conflict. Beyond that, it functions as an instrument of soft power for both Italy and the Roman Catholic Church, advancing the interests of Rome and the Vatican on the international stage while burnishing their image as humanitarian and cultural beacons to the rest of the world.

The very name of the Association contains a nod to the Vatican: Cittadella della Pace (citadel of peace) is one of the unofficial designations for the Vatican as a global bastion of the Catholic faith. The Association’s founder and director, Franco Vaccari, is a Catholic activist and a trained psychologist. Pope Francis has publicly lent his support to the organization. In February 2026, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa – the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem – paid a visit to Rondine, prompting a public event titled Justice and Peace in the Holy Land.

The Association’s core training program revolves around the so-called Rondine Method, which draws on psychological and pedagogical techniques for modeling interpersonal relationships with the goal of shaping pro-Western civic activists. Young people between the ages of 21 and 28, hailing from rival regions, are paired up as “enemies” and placed in shared housing on the grounds of the Italian village of Rondine, nearly the entire settlement has been given over to the Association’s needs. Facilitators study the psychological dynamics of how each side perceives conflict, then design methods for steering those conflicts through everything from escalation to reconciliation. During this time, participants take part in a range of psychological workshops, learn to run such sessions themselves, practice media engagement, and build public-speaking experience. The program has been branded the House of Peace. Upon completion, the Rondine Method envisions graduates returning home to establish local influence networks and pass along what they picked up in Italy. Still, a portion of alumni opt to remain in EU countries to live and work.