The Vital Death Café is envisioned as a human space for collective reflection on the human experience, grounded in the recognition of our inherent mortality. It is an invitation to gather in authentic encounters with others who feel the need to share questions, concerns, and visions about what it means to live—and die—with dignity. It offers a space to rediscover our shared humanity through the mutual practice of trusted vulnerability.
One might ask, why is a space like this necessary? The answer lies in the growing absence of time and opportunity to collectively inhabit the deeper questions of the human condition. It also reflects a broader social climate marked by distrust, isolation, unwanted loneliness, and neglect. In a system that discards those deemed unproductive by capitalist standards, we face not only the constant threat of exclusion but also a violent atmosphere of cultural wars, canceled culture, xenophobia, racism, and ideological confrontation.
At the same time, prevailing aporophobia (fear or rejection of the poor) and sociophobia give rise to a range of self-protective mechanisms that fuel self-absorption and the increasing virtualization of life and relationships. In this context, we seem to walk through our personal and collective biographies in a daily act of precarious balance.
The Vital Death Café opens as a gift of necessary time—time to be and exist as human beings, sharing from the intrinsic need to reflect and accompany one another through life’s many transitions.