Rome (Italy). On 26 September 2022, on the second day of the International Conference “The Contribution of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians to Education (1872-2022). Paths, Challenges, and Perspectives,” the Laudato Si’ Evening entitled “Building the Village of Tomorrow” was held, organized by the Dicastery for Integral Human Development Service and by the Pontifical Faculty of Educational Sciences “Auxilium” at the auditorium of the Salesian Pontifical University (UPS) of Rome.
Mother Chiara Cazzuola, Superior General of the FMA Institute, introduced the evening. “The title proposed opens us to hope. Today we are building the future, because education is, by its very nature, an expression of trust and a courageous witness of hope.” Recalling the Deliberation of the XXIV General Chapter, with the commitment of conversion to integral ecology, she specified:
“These are not separate actions, but a process that arises from the awareness that living our educational vocation today means acting in a local and global perspective. While we operate in a limited time and place, we are actually intervening in the course of history and in the vital processes of the entire ecosystem. Starting from this awareness, we are modifying with humility, the lifestyle of our communities and our educational proposals”.
In a climate of dialogue and family, presented by the guide Eugenia Scotti, various experts then took the stage: Eliano Omar Lodesani, expert in change projects, introduced the concept of Metaverse and prefigured the possible formative applications; Simonetta Di Pippo, astrophysicist, spoke about education in the space economy; Silvana Perfetti, Human Capital Partner of Deloitte Consulting, a consulting and innovation company, illustrated support projects for young people to ensure access to decent work and inclusive training; Laura Lega, Prefect – Head of the Fire Brigade, Public Rescue and Civil Defense Department, highlighted the necessary link between Institutions and communities to build the village of the future and how the training of people who save creates social cohesion.
In his testimony, Guido Parisi, Head of the National Fire Brigade, presented the values at the base of the national body: spirit of sacrifice, sense of belonging, sense of team, altruism, made available to the collectivity values that are received from an education, from the fundamental experience “of being loved in order to love”.
The interventions, which aimed to outline a village defined by relationships and interconnections in the scenario of digitization, but above all by the need for personal care and the training processes that make young people the inhabitants of the common home of today and tomorrow, were embellished by the performative language of the concert held by the tenor Francesco Grollo, accompanied by the Music Band of the National Fire Brigade directed by Donato di Martile, who performed various pieces full of emotion, including the Ave Maria by J.S. Bach; Panis Angelicus, Mission by Ennio Morricone, and Con Te Partirò.
Sr. Alessandra Smerilli, FMA, Secretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development at the Holy See, concluded the evening with the verb ‘listen’, taken from her current experience. “When Pope Francis asked us to renew ourselves in the organization within the Dicastery, he left us three words: listen, listen, listen. We who are called to the service of integral development, which has many similarities with integral education, in order to accompany we need to listen. Listening to reality allows us to understand where the problems are and I believe that the Conference is a great training ground for listening to what is happening around us. But as FMA we are called, in the style of the Preventive System, to anticipate and build a different future”.
“Every change needs an educational journey that involves everyone. This is why it is necessary to build an ‘educational village’ where, in diversity, the commitment to generate a network of human and open relationships is shared”
(Papa Francesco, Messaggio per il lancio del Patto Educativo Globale).
Photos: Flickr FMA
