SW News: Pope Francis will give painting a try in Portugal on August 3 when he lends the final brushstrokes to a mammoth mural. During his Apostolic Visit to Portugal, the Holy Father will visit Cascais, where he will interact with members of the Scholas Occurrentes community and finish the 3-km-long mural painted by more than 2000 people. It is a compilation of 300 murals that are perceived as a single work.

The lengthy mural was the result of an encounter of young people hailing from around the globe and they shared their pains and dreams by creating the immersive work of art, making the classroom without walls real.

It was Pope Francis who created the Scholas Occurrentes, an International Educational Movement of Pontifical Rights. It is spread across all continents and embraces half a million schools and educational networks. The aim of the group is to “create the Culture of Encounter bringing young people together in an education that generates meaning”.

The pope will be traveling to the coastal town located on the west of Lisbon to interact with members of Scholas Occurrentes. The group issued a statement saying that the proposed meeting will witness the closing of the mega mural project entitled Life Between Worlds.  "Old people and young people, rich and poor, children of different religions and non-believers, and young people of different nationalities participated in this work of art," they said in the statement, adding that the final touches will be rendered by the pontiff himself.

Scholas Occurrentes World President Jose Maria Del Corral thanked the pontiff and WYD organizers for organizing the visit to Cascais and sharing the educational experience that alters lives and provides the sense to stand up and continue the fight.

“Pope Francis' visit to our headquarters is a recognition that Scholas has received for its commitment to quality education, integration, and the promotion of human values,” the group said in the statement.

The mural project symbolizes the pontiff’s pedagogical vision that stresses the significance of the “between” where the encounter between people and the world, between the world and life occurs.