Pope receives Vodafone Foundation board, calls for digital access to sacred texts in Africa

October 05, 2016

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.”

 

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Further information:

• Udienza ai Dirigenti della “Fondazione Vodafone”, 05.10.2016 (Holy See Press Office)
• Vodafone Foundation launches ‘Instant Schools For Africa’ to bring advanced educational resources to millions of young Africans (Vodafone)