Rome, 5–6 March 2026. Within the framework of the 25th anniversary of the Itaka-Escolapios Network, which was commemorated on 9 March, a meeting of the main driving teams behind this platform of shared mission took place at the General House in Rome. Nineteen people took part, representing the General Congregation, the General Council of the Fraternity, the Board of Trustees and the Executive Committee of Itaka-Escolapios, with the aim of reviewing the present moment of the Network and strengthening its contribution to the Order and the Fraternity as a whole, now present in 11 Demarcations.
The meeting was experienced as a genuine “360-degree celebration”: sober, fraternal and forward-looking, centred on safeguarding with lucidity the charismatic gift received by the Pious Schools through Saint Joseph Calasanz, whose most concrete and demanding expression is the centrality of the poor child, the preferred recipient of the Piarist mission and a permanent criterion for discernment.
The first day included three addresses that guided the common work: Fr Carles Gil, Father General, on behalf of the General Congregation; Fr Emmanuel Suárez, on behalf of the General Council of the Fraternity; and Fr Juan Alfonso Serra, as president of the Network. Their contributions offered a shared framework for understanding the progress, challenges and priorities of Itaka-Escolapios as an institutional platform of shared mission between religious and lay people, called to foster communion, co-responsibility and the sustainability of the presences.
The second day was structured around working sessions and group conversations. Igor Irigoyen, General Coordinator, Mayte Ramírez, Constanza de las Marinas and Ender Mijangos each presented an overview of the reality of Itaka-Escolapios in the Demarcations. Operational and organisational matters were addressed, and criteria for economic administration were reviewed, with the aim of developing transparent management consistent with the mission. The contributions and conclusions of the meeting will be gathered in a final communiqué.
In the course of the dialogue, it was reaffirmed that Itaka-Escolapios is not merely an operational structure, but a concrete expression of collaboration and communion in order to care for and project the Piarist charism in favour of those who need us most. Within this horizon, some particularly relevant dynamics for integral sustainability were underlined.
25 years: gratitude, blessing and future
The commemoration of the 25th anniversary has been marked by a spirit of gratitude, especially towards volunteers and all those who, throughout these years, have generously sustained a mission that seeks to transform realities through education and accompaniment. In this context, the blessing of Pope Leo XIV upon the Network’s daily work has been received with particular gratitude, as an encouragement to continue educating, accompanying and building a more just world in the spirit of Calasanz.
As an expression of this broad celebration, an online meeting was also held, bringing together many people, with significant interventions that highlighted the journey already travelled and renewed the common commitment, including those of: Fr Juan Alfonso Serra, Sch. P., president of the Itaka-Escolapios Network; Fr Carles Gil i Saguer, Sch. P., Father General of the Order of the Pious Schools; Fr Javier Aguirregabiria, Sch. P., one of the early promoters of the Network; and Ilona Rudka, representing the General Council of the Fraternity.
With its gaze fixed on the future, the Itaka-Escolapios Network reaffirms its vocation: to care in communion for the charismatic gift and to sustain, with boldness and realism, a shared mission that always keeps the most vulnerable children and young people at the centre, wherever education opens paths of dignity and hope.
We also invite you to watch a short television feature on these celebrations, covered in Navarra by @rtve.navarra. We also extend our gratitude for making visible the work of Itaka-Escolapios in Pamplona-Iruña as @reditakaescolapiosmarks its 25th anniversary.
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