By Stanislaus Alla
New Delhi, Sept 10, 2026: Pope Francis will hold a virtual dialogue with select groups of students from South Asia and the conversation will be live-streamed via YouTube and will be accessible in English, Spanish and Hindi.
The Vatican News reports that the event of Building Bridges Initiative is jointly sponsored and organized by Vatican’s Pontifical Commission for Latin America and Loyola University, Chicago.
By inviting all to participate in ‘Synod on Synodality: 2021-2024’ Pope Francis has called for the renewal of the Catholic Church. Besides the formal meetings on Synodality, which would culminate with the sessions to be held at the Vatican during October 2023 and 2024, several conferences and seminars and conversations are being held simultaneously with the same goal in mind.
With a view to bring college and university students into the Synodal discussions, Loyola University Chicago began the Building Bridges Initiative and has already facilitated two virtual meetings: The Pope interacted with the students from the Americas in February 2022, and with those in Africa in November that year. The third session is arranged so that South Asian students could involve themselves in this.
Chicago’s Loyola University has announced that the participating centers are: Loyola Hall Research and Spirituality Centre, Lahore, Pakistan, Christ University, Bengaluru, India, St. Xavier’s College, Kathmandu, Nepal, St. Stephen’s College, Delhi, India, Loyola College, Autonomous, Chennai, India and St. Joseph’s University, Bengaluru, India.
During the 75-minute Zoom session, which begins at 6:30 pm on September 26, Indian time, students, through their spokesperson/animator, would be able to interact directly with the Pope. The students are likely to come from diverse backgrounds -be the regions they hail from, the academic subjects they represent and pursue, the experiences they have of the Church and the dreams they hold for the future of South Asia and the larger world!
Hopes and dreams, experiences and insights of the students are crucial for the Synodal processes. During the session students would be introduced to speak and to listen, to learn and to discern so that they can shape their lives and those of others. The Pope frequently underscores the participation of youth and students in realizing the Church visualized by all.
Pope Francis famously said: ‘As long as you make trouble, it is okay!’ The Pope desires to keep youth and students at the heart of the Church, even if they ask uncomfortable questions or are impatient with the current status.
While Pope Francis visited Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, he could not visit India or Nepal or Pakistan. The September 26 session, therefore, offers a rare opportunity for the South Asian students to speak to the Pope and to listen to him. Since it is going to be accessible live on YouTube, several thousand in all these nations are likely to join.
The YouTube links would be available from both the Pontifical Commission for Latin America as well as Loyola University, Chicago.