Pope Francis visited today, 3rd of August, the headquarters of Scholas Occurrentes in Cascais, in a meeting that included several testimonies and questions from young students who participated in the construction of a mural over three kilometres long. At the end of the meeting, it was Pope Francis' turn to leave his mark on this mural.  

The first to speak to Pope Francis was Aladje Dabo, a young Muslim who is a student at the Scholas and, according to him, "when the project was presented to me, I had no doubts in accepting and embracing it". Because this is "a space where everyone can share their feelings and where everyone belongs, no matter their belief or their origin", he added.  

Referring to the mural created by more than 200 people, Aladje asked the Pope why Scholas is a space where it is possible to create a piece of art. To this question, Pope Francis replied that Scholas Occurrentes is a place that "makes this possible, that everyone feels interpreted with respect, but a dynamic respect that leads to action". 

Paulo Esaka da Silva, a young evangelical, recalled his visits to various communities and emphasised the different people and realities he had met, many of them in a context of "chaos". He emphasised that "this gave us the opportunity to deepen the discovery of the true feelings and pain of these people", revealing that "it touched my heart". Moved by the realities he witnessed, he asked the Holy Father: "Are the pains of these people part of our heart?". 

Pope Francis began by leaving aside the "chaos" and focussing on the "crisis" that each of us is experiencing in our lives. After explaining the origin of the word "crisis", the Holy Father emphasised that "a life without crisis is an aseptic life". "If I offer you distilled water, you won't like it. Even if it has no crisis, it doesn't taste like anything, nobody likes it", he emphasised.  

Mariana Barradas was the last youngster to address Pope Francis. Taking what the Holy Father had just said, Mariana recalled the "chaos" and "crisis" she had experienced and passed them on to the mural, since it is the representation of the "chaos" and "crises" of the various people who participated in the construction of the mural.  

"It was very beautiful what you said about chaos," the Holy Father began. "Someone said that human life is to make a cosmos out of chaos," he continued, "to start from the meaningless to something meaningful and appealing."

Mariana also offered the Holy Father a paintbrush, which "symbolises all those who built this mural". At the end, a paint brush was also given to Pope Francis, so that he could make the last brushstroke on this mural and thus "make the leap into the virtual world", reinforced the young woman who presented the moment. The brush with which Pope Francis painted is remotely connected to other countries such as Cape Verde, where young people were able to follow through the virtual world. "The young people want His Holiness to unite the physical world with the virtual world", they emphasised.

After this moment, Pope Francis also asked all the young people: "pray for me and, if you don't pray, at least send me good energy". Afterwards, he went to irrigate an olive tree planted to remember this moment, being a Scholas tradition, accompanied by the voice of Cuca Roseta, a Portuguese singer who interpreted the "Alleluia" and "Avé-Maria".