Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, Prefect of the Dicastery for Culture and Education, visits Barrio 31 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to see the original site of the international Scholas Occurrentes organisation created by Pope Francis.
By Paolo Ondarza
The Prefect of the Dicastery for Culture and Education, Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, paid a surprise visit to the historical headquarters of Scholas Occurrentes, the international educational movement created by Pope Francis at the beginning of his pontificate.
On Wednesday, the Cardinal went to Barrio 31 in Buenos Aires where he metwith the founders of Scholas, José María del Corral and Enrique Palmeyro.
When then-Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio was Archbishop of Buenos Aires, the two founders began to bring together students and teachers from schools of different religions and social classes, both public and private, to foster a culture of encounter after the crises and fractures of 2001.
A big family
According to a press release issued by Scholas Occurrentes, Cardinal de Mendonça also listened to various testimonies from young people participating in athletic and cultural activities in different parts of the country, such as Villa Fiorito neighbourhood if Buenos Aires; and in El Impenetrable in the province of Chaco.
The Cardinal expressed his gratitude for the encounter, expressing his joy at being in the presence of a big family. He said that experiencing this atmosphere of coexistence—seeing the eyes, feeling the hope—is worth a thousand words.
He added that he felt a responsibility, in line with the mandate received from Pope Francis, to continue to help in the educational and cultural fields in which Scholas works.
The mural of dreams and suffering
At the invitation of the young people of the Scholas community in Barrio 31, Cardinal de Mendonça added his own contribution to the mural created by the young people, in which their dreams and sufferings are expressed. The Vatican Prefect was asked to graphically express the most difficult decision he had made in his life.
Last May at the Vatican, the Cardinal took part in a meeting organised by Scholas Occurrentes at which the University of Sense, created by decree by Pope Francis, was presented.
Activities at the headquarters in Barrio 31
Various cultural, artistic and athletic activities – including the Liga Internacional de Fútbol Pelota de Trapo, volleyball, boxing and more – take place in the historical Scholas headquarters in Barrio 31, which inaugurated in 2018 by the Bishop of Rome via video conference.
Performances of the Teatro Colón have been held there, and each year student delegations from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, among other important international academic institutions, participate.
New location in Indonesia
Scholas Occurrentes is now present on five continents, with direct participation in 70 countries. On 4 September, during the apostolic visit of Pope Francis, it will inaugurate its first branch in Southeast Asia in Indonesia.
