Pope Francis met with the CEO and directors of the Vodafone
Foundation on October 5 and thanked the foundation for “Instant Schools
for Africa,” an educational initiative of the foundation.
Headquartered in London, Vodafone is a telecommunications corporation with over 100,000 employees.
“I would like to suggest that, in implementing such a project, care
be taken to provide these young people with some orientation in
methodology, so that they can learn not only how to use tools, but how
to use them as tools, thus enabling them to bring out the best of these
means in a free and critical way,” the Pope said during the meeting,
which took place in Paul VI Audience Hall.
“Finally, a desire of mine: that, among the resources offered to
youth, there may be digital access to the sacred texts of various
religions, in their respective languages,” Pope Francis added.
“This
would be a beautiful sign of care for the religious dimension so deeply
rooted among African peoples, and a sign also of encouraging
interreligious dialogue.”