For Pope Francis, young people are called to be “protagonists,” to dream big and to channel their faith-induced excitement, knowing that Jesus is their “power source” and without a connection to Jesus, people end up drowning their thoughts and ideas, dreams and faith, “so we get frustrated and annoyed.”

The educational community can enjoy an endless number of possibilities and potentialities if it allows itself to be enriched and challenged by all who are part of the educational enterprise. This requires an increased concern for quality and integration. The service that the university offers must always aim for quality and excellence in the service of national coexistence

Realizing how important young people and their experiences are, this year I wanted to call the Synod, and before it, the meeting of young people, so that you can feel – and really be – protagonists in the heart of the Church.

When a pope visits a country, it’s often hard to know what immediate impact it has – that is, beyond small miracles. But in the case of Pope Francis’ visit to Chile, the first possible fruit might be something quite different, launching a reform in the country’s female penitentiary system.

Visiting a region of Chile featuring several of the country’s indigenous peoples, including the Mapuche, whose resentments over the years have sometimes turned violent, Pope Francis on Wednesday urged greater justice as the alternative to the “deforestation of hope.”

I am pleased that our meeting follows that with our consecrated men and women, for one of our principal tasks is precisely to be close to consecrated life and to our priests. If the shepherd wanders off, the sheep too will stray and fall prey to any wolf that comes along. The fatherhood of the bishop with his presbyterate!