On 7 January 2026, a virtual meeting was held between the coordinating team of the Network for Non-Formal Education and Social Action of the Order of the Pious Schools, members of the General Team for Piarist Youth, and Joan Prat, coordinator of the General Team for Non-Formal Education of the Order. The aim of the meeting was to dialogue about the active participation of Piarist youth in the initiative of the NFE and SA Network, especially through volunteering, youth ministry, the Calasanz Movement, and the various social action initiatives being promoted in the different realities of the Pious Schools.
During the meeting, the importance of networking was underlined as a concrete way of living Piarist communion, sharing experiences, materials and formation processes, and jointly responding to the social realities that the Pious Schools accompany in different contexts. The participants highlighted the need for social pastoral ministry to be a transversal axis, inherent to Piarist identity and mission, integrating in a balanced way pastoral action and volunteering as a fundamental support for social outreach.
A central element of the dialogue was the protagonism of Piarist youth. The desire was expressed that young people may take an active part in the teams, decision-making spaces and processes of the Network, being accompanied and at the same time protagonists of their own vocational journey and social commitment. In this sense, volunteering — both local and international — was recognised as a privileged sphere for integral formation, social awareness and vocational discernment, especially in coordination with the Calasanz Movement and youth ministry. Concrete lines of collaboration between the two teams were also proposed, following the richness of the dialogue, with the desire to make the most of what already exists, to share resources and to encourage one another.
This meeting reaffirms the conviction that networking, a sense of community, social pastoral ministry and volunteering are privileged paths for continuing to strengthen the Piarist mission at the service of children, young people and the most vulnerable realities, in creative fidelity to the charism of Saint Joseph Calasanz.
