The Pope establishes a “University of Sense” in the Vatican and is run by Scholas Okorientes

Vatican News

Through a chart dated August 15, Pope Francis created the University of Sense, a public university to respond to the global crisis of meaning. It is a “civil university educational institution based in Vatican City State.” It is independent and will be managed by the international educational movement Scholas Occurrentes. In a statement issued by Scholas, the Pope stated that: “Scolas, as a community that teaches, and as intuition that grows, opens the doors of the University of Meaning, with students of all truths, languages ​​and religions, so that no one is excluded when what is taught is not something but life itself.” In the midst of the global crisis caused by the pandemic, the Pontiff said in a virtual message: “In this new crisis that humanity faces today, in which culture has shown that it has lost its vitality, I want to celebrate the fact that Scholaus, “like a society that educates, like a growing intuition, opens Gates of the University of Meaning. Because education means searching for the meaning of things.”

Cozy and creative place

Professor Mpho Chivas of the University of Pretoria, Professor Stefania Travagnine of the University of London, Professor Souleymane Bachir Diagne of Columbia University, and Professor Diane Moore of Harvard University, among others, agreed on the importance of creating a global university body that responds to global challenges. We need to reimagine education, placing the person in his or her uniqueness at the center and society as an expression of pluralism. A welcoming and creative place where everyone can feel welcome and participate. An atypical university, as Plato says, “has no place because it is everywhere,” we read in its statement. A very small seed can become a very large tree, its roots lie in the teachings of Pope Francis and in Scola’s experience; A local and global, multicultural, interfaith and intergenerational university. Learning – emphasizes Scholas Occurrentes – is nourished by all languages ​​of scientific and human knowledge, art, technology and life experiences. This university nourishes the soul and knows how to distinguish between what is useful and what is indispensable. It helps us not to lose sight of what is essential, because man does not live by bread alone.

Projects for youth

Since 2013, Scholas, as an international educational movement created by Pope Francis, has been carrying out educational experiences with young people of different faiths and cultures on five continents, responding to the profound thirst for meaning present in these times. In 2015, Scholas began developing a network with public and private universities to create the concept of the Scholas Chair to work together not only in outreach but also in teaching and research. Since 2017, the universities that are part of the Scholas Chair network have been sharing their results and achievements every year through a global conference to promote this methodology and combine research and fieldwork. Since 2020, in the midst of the pandemic, Pope Francis has invited Scholas to promote this purposeful initiative at the university level. Since 2021, the body has been bringing teachers together to jointly develop the Senso University Statement. Since 2022, Scholas has been creating meaningful experiences with teachers and university students in Latin America and Europe, which today have received several academic awards and are part of the training proposal for various courses and study houses. Since August 15, 2023, His Holiness the Pope has established Senso University as a civil legal entity headquartered in the Vatican City State.