Pope Francis Addresses Scholas in Valencia

On Thursday, May 20, 2021, Pope Francis was connected live from Scholas Occurrentes in Rome to the inauguration of Scholas’ new premises in Valencia, Spain, and he said that in “in sport and in life if we forget gratuitousness, we lose the game.”

The ceremony, which took place in the Valencia soccer stadium of Levante UD, was attended by the Cardinal Archbishop of Valencia, Antonio Cañizares, his Auxiliary Bishop, Arturo Ros, the General Vicar and new Dean of the Cathedral, Vicente Fontestad, the major Chaplain of the UCV, Vicente Ferrer, and the Directress of the Scholas Chair of the Catholic University, Yolanda Ruiz, as well as other sports and political personalities.

The event included a variety of activities, such as a soccer exhibition with boys and girls from the Soccer School for Persons with Intellectual Disability of Levante UD EDI, in a Scholas’ gesture in which top representatives of the Government and Church in Valencia moved soil to a pot as a sign of hope in education of the future.

Always with Gratuitousness

After the welcome addresses by personalities of the Church and local Government, a youth asked the Holy Father about the importance for him to go back to the origin. The Pontiff responded by explaining that we “always find our identity again and we have it grow in that re-encounter. A person that forgets where he comes from is a person that amputates his history, he selects it or lets it get lost.”

The Holy Father continued, history “is like a captain, it was born in a moment and in an origin, and that origin in some way has meaning throughout one’s life. To have a rag ball is to remember a time when sport, a game, the gratuitousness of the game, was much better than the ulterior sophistication. It was a returning to the origin that the game was better than wealth and poverty. It was the gratuitousness of meeting one another. So, for me, the rag ball and the end that proclaims it is an origin of gratuitousness.”

Youth’s Power

Prior to the Pope’s words, Cardinal Cañizares expressed his gratitude to him for his presence and said the following: “The young people welcome you, they are Valencia: youth, future, hope. You are also welcomed by young people, who are dynamic, joyful, who have that wisdom that you transmit constantly. And you are  welcomed, too, by young people and children who hope for an updated education, a true teaching alternative.”

“And that is Scholas,” he continued. “You are helping us very much here, in Valencia, both in concerted as well as public teaching. You help us in fact towards a new world, a new society and a truly new humanity, made up of men that believe in the person, that work for love and peace, for dialogue, for encounter, that admit all and exclude none, that are by the side of the poor, the last, the disinherited, the marginalized and the migrants.”

Guide and Reference

For his part, Quico Catalá, President of the Levante UD Soccer Club, asked Francis to keep the people of Valencia in mind. Always have us on your team. May we never lack that rag ball to hang onto; that symbol of hope and dreams. May it never be lacking for all these young people who are already our present and especially our future.”

“I thank you from my heart for making Levante UD possible for us, direct witnesses of this lovely story called Scholas, which is by and for the young people of Valencia, of Spain and of the world,” he said. He also asked the Pope two things: “Keep us, all these young people, all those that have suffered from this pandemic, and our land very much in your prayers,” adding and “a blessing for this house, for this stadium, for what it symbolizes for many people.”

Overcoming the Pandemic

The last intervention was that of Ximo Puig, President of the Valencia Community, who expressed the hope that the Bishop of Rome would visit Valencia one day in person. He also said that thanks to Valencia’s young people, the pandemic is being overcome. It was their sense of responsibility, their generosity because they were able to put their grandfathers and grandmothers before their own interest.”

“It is time to overcome all the pandemics, not only the health pandemic but also poverty, inequality, xenophobia pandemics. Your last Encyclical is very important for humanity. Fraternity is above any frontier,” he concluded.

Integral Education

In excusive statements to Exaudi, Yolanda Diaz, Directress of the Scholas Chair of Valencia’s Catholic University, pointed out how “the shared work between the Chair and Scholas is perfectly aligned with the Pope’s teachings” and, focusing on the Successor of Peter’s words at the opening of the General States of Birth, she stressed that “we cannot convert the school into an ambit that suffocates creativity and innovation, thus limiting a person’s growth.

“We want the school to be a space where all, without exclusions, are present and where no one feels rejected for being different, for having other types of capacities, for having different beliefs or fewer resources. Only with this approach can the school be conceived as a place of encounter where all contribute and all are mutually enriched,” he said.

In this connection, he added, “although we must not forget that parents are the first educators, the school also has responsibility in the education of our children and young people.” Parents and school “are called and challenged to educate, and this means to do so in the art of living. Therefore, an integral vision is necessary, which addresses the cognitive, affective, wilful, intellectual and, of course, spiritual dimensions.”

Connection with the Pope

 In regard to Pope Francis’ participation in the inauguration of the Schcolas’ premises in Valencia, the Directress of the Chair said that it is very important for them. “This connection means, on one hand, a consolidation of all that we have been developing over these years. And, on the other, a great stimulation and encouragement to continue working on a project in which we believe and which helps us to live as a vocation and with dedication our task as docents and believers.”

As she mentioned, the Chair took up Scholas’ project in 2016 and since then, they have worked and shared jointly many projects as well as educational experiences with schools. “Numerous are the diocesan schools, the Catholic schools and teachers of Religion of public schools that have accompanied us over these five years, through experiences such as Scholas Citizenship, game schools, art and thought, docents’ encounter, artistic expressions through photography, active methodologies such as Apprenticeship-Service . . . We even held two International Congresses. The work and effort dedicated over all this time have been a lot.