We have been working as the Youth and Pious Schools team for almost two years now. During this time we have identified the actions we will undertake in the Order’s Road Map (Chapter IV, Section 7) and we have begun to take forward five of these actions in consultation with the Congregation and the General Fraternity:
1-We are in the process of creating a Youth Council of Pious Schools with 9 young people from different countries and profiles, so that we will meet with them online four times a year to share and reflect together on the steps we want to take in the actions of our team. At the same time, together with these young people, we will make a proposal for all districts to promote the creation of some youth councils or similar structures at local or provincial level, if appropriate.
2-We are starting to put together the online trainings that we are developing in many places and platforms of the Pious Schools, especially after the pandemic. Our idea is to offer different online training paths for young leaders, religious or lay, in Spanish and English, which will be elaborated with already existing workshops or Piarist courses according to the objectives of each path and the Piarist identity.
3-We have contributed to the creation and distribution in Spanish, English, French and Polish of a free, interactive and easily accessible digital tool of the RPJ – Youth Pastoral Network, one of the international Piarist networks in which other institutions of the Church also participate. It is a youth pastoral self-assessment tool for each provincial team, school, parish or team of the Calasanz Movement that wishes to advance its mission of evangelising young people. The principles of this pastoral tool are based on the reflections made at the 2018 Synod of “Young People” . 🛠 Pastoral diagnostic tool with young people (rpj.es)
4-We are planning a general meeting for 2026, which we have called the “Youth Forum”. We consider it fundamental that this activity takes place in coordination with other teams of the Pious Schools, with the aim of co-creating life and mission with young people in order to strengthen their identity and co-responsibility as true protagonists of reflection and to decide together with them what actions we propose on some youth issues.
5-We collaborate with the general communication team to better disseminate the different activities and works that the Pious Schools carry out with young people and for young people. We started a few months ago with a monthly message that appears on the Internet and on the Piarist networks, we are studying other communication proposals, such as a special section on the Order’s website, and we are meeting with other general directors of the Calasanz Movement, non-formal education, the General Secretariat of the Ministry, synodality… to capitalise on synergies.
For all these actions and others that we are planning for the future, we have contacted more than 60 people, 2 or 3 from each demarcation, who have direct responsibility in the Piarist areas where the young people are, to share with them all the proposals that we are making and to move forward together in these tasks.
We are ready to accompany any demarcation that needs it on these issues and to share the path with young people.
