The first lady met Pope Francis | S …

The meeting of Pope Francis with the First Lady from Argentina, Fabiola Yañez and in virtual mode with the First Ladies of Latin America, who are part of the Alliance of Spouses of Heads of State and Representatives (ALMA), was held at the headquarters of Scholas Ocurrentes in Trastevere – Rome. Too young people from all over the world have been invited in person and others through a series of videoconferences.

To give continuity to the commitment made during the previous papal visit to Scholas’ headquarters in the Vatican, in December 2019, and after the celebration of World Environment Day last June, representatives of the ALMA Alliance have again met Pope Francis to share his testimony. of work developed together over the past year.

In the presence of Fabiola Yáñez, ALMA coordinator, and in virtual relation with the First Ladies of Brazil, Chile, Honduras, Panama and the Dominican Republic, the “Latin American Youth Network for the Care of the Common Home” was officially launched.. This training program for young people will give them socio-environmental leadership tools and skills to take care of the environment. Using this network, they will identify the region’s greatest challenges and create impact initiatives to transform them.

This program will initially include a meeting and an educational activity in Misiones, Argentina, next September, where the First Ladies will be present, as well as some young people from each country.

Together, and in accordance with the gesture that Father Jorge Bergoglio made in the Plaza de Mayo in 2001, to carry earth to plant an olive tree, symbolically, the First Ladies made a hole in the earth, so that creativity and solidarity can be reborn of young people for a better world.

Fabiola Yáñez expressed to Pope Francis: “Dear Holy Father, it is a great honor, a great joy for me to be able to be here today on behalf of all my colleagues in Latin America and also this gesture with which I’m going to start, is a gesture that means that from creativity, from this rebirth movement, we can build union, solidarity and above all that we emotionally heal all the peoples of the world. I ask for my country first because it is something that we need, we must be united because, as we have already said, no one is saved alone “

The world directors of Scholas, José María del Corral and Enrique Palmeyro, thanked the First Ladies for the support that young people receive in their respective countries to develop a meaningful education.

During the meeting, it was the occasion for Scholas Ocurrentes to inaugurate three new places: Washington, United States; Valencia, Spain – where there were more than 1,500 young people gathered in a football stadium – and Sydney in Australia, with this latest opening, the presence on five continents is over.

There was also a special inauguration in Argentina, a place in the impenetrable Chaco. From there, the provincial governor, Jorge Capitanich, accompanied by the young people who will benefit from it, was present.

At the end of the meeting Pope Francis addressed everyone present: “Thank you for taking the risk, because without that Scholas could not be, without this attitude of risk and to go further. Only by risking can you experience the gratification and reach that third level of Sentido University, which is to celebrate. Thank you for the courage, the bravery and the road traveled, do not be afraid. Be afraid to stand still and fossilized, keep going. Thank you for daring to cross borders “

Schools meeting is an International Organization of Pontifical Law present in 190 countries on five continents and that through its network, it integrates half a million educational establishments and networks. Its mission is to respond to the call to create a culture of encounter, to bring together young people in an education that generates meaning.