Pope Francis encourages peace through education with digital olive tree

On March 19, Pope Francis planted a virtual Olive tree as part of an initiative to promote peace throughout the world.

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LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - This event also coincides with the one-year anniversary of the Mass which marked the beginning of his Pontification, and is part of a greater strategy by Francis to promote peace through sports and education, particularly in conjunction with the organization Schola Occurentes.

In 2000, when Francis was just the Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Francis planted an olive tree in the capital of Argentina. That same tree was given to the captains the soccer teams of Italy and Argentina in August of 2013 in a meeting with the Francis, who then sponsored the creation of the Schola Occurentes.

Scholas Occurrentes is a network of schools which is primarily dedicated to creating, through education, an inclusive society where all individuals have the resources they need to live and promoting the cooperation between students and civic and political good.

One of Scholas Occurentes programs is to encourage children around the world to plant a virtual olive tree, which will form a forest connecting the world together through education and peace.

Over three days the meeting has taken place with educators from throughout the world and members of the network. The meeting ended on March 19 with Pope Francis presiding.

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