What is Scholas?
A SCHOOL
OF HUMANITY
A movement founded
by Francis to bring us together.
SCHOLAS
was born from the heart of Pope Francis.
From the way he sees the world.
From his belief that no one is saved alone.
And that encounter is where everything begins.
In 2001, as Archbishop of Buenos Aires, he brought together young people from neighborhoods that didn’t even look at each other.
Not with a speech. With a ball. That’s where it all started.
In 2013, just days after becoming Pope, he founded Scholas Occurrentes.
A global community working with young people around the world to create spaces of encounter.
Where differences enrich us.
Where every story matters.
Where what counts is not where you come from, but what we can build together.
SCHOLAS
was born from the
heart of Pope Francis.
From the way he sees the world.
From his belief that no one is saved alone.
And that encounter is where everything begins.
In 2001, as Archbishop of Buenos Aires, he brought together young people from neighborhoods that didn’t even look at each other.
Not with a speech. With a ball. That’s where it all started.
In 2013, just days after becoming Pope, he founded Scholas Occurrentes.
A global community working with young people around the world to create spaces of encounter.
Where differences enrich us.
Where every story matters.
Where what counts is not where you come from, but what we can build together.
+2.5M
young people
+70
countries
Across all 5
continents
Scholas works through art, sport, and technology as languages that open something deeper:
moving from who we’re expected to be to expressing who we truly are.
That’s where the process begins:
Listening to what’s happening
Giving it shape
Sharing it with others
And in that encounter, something changes.
Because when someone reconnects with their own life,
they begin to find meaning.
YOU CAN BE
PART OF THIS
Every experience that transforms a life needs someone who makes it possible.
Supporting Scholas means choosing for this to keep happening.
So more young people can meet, listen, and build something together.
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