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On Saturday 3^rd December, at the New Synod Hall, Vatican City, the third and final meeting of the “Synodal Jubilee Journeys” planned for 2022 took place with the title “Recognising ourselves on the threshold of education”. The cycle of events was organized by St Peter’s Basilica and the Fratelli tutti Foundation.

The meeting began in the presence of Card. Mauro Gambetti, Archpriest of St Peter’s Papal Basilica. A welcoming address by Msgr. Orazio Pepe, Secretary of the Fabric of St. Peter’s,  followed. The round table, “The educational horizon”, was animated by Prof. Chiara Giaccardi, Professor of Media Sociology and Anthropology at the Catholic University of Milan, Mr. Francesco Ghirelli, President of Lega Pro and Vice President of FIGC, and Msgr.  Armando Matteo, Secretary of the Doctrinal Section, Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.

The format of the meeting included a dialogue workshop: a moment of reflection and sharing in working groups of representatives of civil society operating in the family/school educational context.

Father Francesco Occhetta, Secretary General of the Fratelli tutti Foundation and moderator of the event, explained: “The aim of the individual legs of the Synodal Jubilee Journeys is to take up the themes of the Encyclical, such as care and integration, detention and social disadvantage, and explore them in depth together with social workers to find more humane solutions to current social problems. These meetings are organized by St Peter’s Basilica at the service of the world. On 3rd December, there will be representatives of sport, of the oratories and of all those experiences that help young people grow after the loneliness produced by the pandemic. The whole country will be represented. We are surprised by the response to our proposal. It shows the desire to build community, to share knowledge and good practices, to take a step forward all together. By doing this quietly, the Fratelli tutti Foundation helps to meet and open a dialogue to build bridges and social friendship. Fraternity must indeed be built at the cultural level. We are just at the beginning of a process”.

The experience ended in St. Peter’s Basilica, at sunset, providing time for contemplating beauty by thematic itineraries, so that the topics discussed could be brought to spiritual life. The visit was accompanied by organ music.
“Recognising ourselves on the threshold of education” closed the cycle of meetings planned for 2022, whose main theme was “closeness and care”. Six more meetings are scheduled in preparation for the next Jubilee, three in 2023 and three in 2024.

In 2023 the topic will be ‘reconciliation and purification of memory’ with testimonies on how to reconstruct justice, which is not revenge but reconstruction of relationships and social ties. In 2024 we will deepen the discourse on ‘political love’, as Pope Francis defines it, referring to the responsibility of building the common good together.