The pope visited the Scholas Foundation headquarters in Rome. He went there to know more about the development of their projects.
Whilst there he painted this symbol on a board...
He even painted on this Spanish artist's jacket, Domingo Zapata.
Afterward, Pope Francis talked with Scholas about the projects they have launched this year. Two students, one from Granada, Spain, and another from Oaxaca, Mexico, told him about their experiences.
“The day I met Scholas I discovered a thirst I didn't know I had. It was a thirst to be heard and for people to encourage me to keep talking instead of shutting up.”
“It completely changed our outlook on life. There was a before and an after. In the end it helped us to get better. This is because change always starts with us and not with someone else. If we want the world to change, we have to start changing it.”
These three students from China, the Dominican Republic and Chile also explained to Pope Francis their studies in computer language. They even taught him how to write a code with the 'Programming for Peace' application.
The project's idea is for 50 million children and young people to learn how to program from an ethical perspective and promote peace.
The pope also connected, via satellite, with people in Panama, Portugal and Romania. This was to inaugurate the headquarters of the Scholas Foundation in those countries.
Panama especially will be hosting the Foundation's Technology Hub. It is there new projects will be founded for Central America and for the entire world.
Pope Francis thanked Scholas for helping young people to be creative and bring change. He praised the students' desire to protect the environment.
POPE FRANCIS
“However, if you only protest you won't change anything, you won't give life. It is good to protest, but you have to build. This is what I see is happening. They were encouraged to build and to discover that they are capable”.
“They're going to make mistakes once and a thousand times. However, it's better to make mistakes by building, than to make mistakes with folded arms. ”
Among the participants was Colombian singer Sebastián Yatra. He presented to the pope the lyrics to his new song against bullying.
Pope Francis bid farewell, remembering that this foundation is producing many projects that promote education through a culture of encounter. The fruits of these projects will be seen in many years' from now, when the seeds that are being planted today will grow.
