SW News: The Holy Father tried his hand at painting by lending the finishing touches to a mammoth mural prepared by members of the Scholas Occurrentes in Cascais in Portugal on August 3. The pope visited the facility and interacted with the young members during which he was given a digital brush with which he gave a finishing stroke in green.

The digital brush enables members of Scholas Occurrentes around the globe to be able to see what the pope has painted on the 3-km-long mural. Paulo, a 24-year-old Brazilian, explained to Pope Francis the theme of the giant mural they had created, which is ‘chaos’. “As a group, we had the opportunity to visit many different communities, many different people from different religions and from different cultures,” he told the pope while explaining the wall painting.

When he asked the pope what chaos meant to him, the pontiff took the opportunity to explain that “Chaos is the crisis. Do you know where the word crisis comes from? When the wheat was harvested, it was passed through a path and sieved. Hence the crisis.” The Holy Father added that a life without crises is tasteless like distilled water.

Pope Francis said, “In human life, chaos must be turned into cosmos. Starting from the chaotic, the disorderly, to make a cosmos with sense, open.” He also gifted the facility a beautiful icon explaining the parable of the Good Samaritan. The Argentine pontiff spoke in detail on the parable explaining the importance of compassion. “We need to get our hands dirty in life so that our hearts do not get sullied,” he said, summing up the parable.

After the pope imparted his apostolic blessing, famous Portuguese Fado singer Cuca Roseta sang the Catholic song “Recado” for the Holy Father in her characteristic strong voice. In the courtyard of Scholas Occurrentes building, the pope blessed an olive sapling that will be planted in memory of his visit. He also interacted with people and autographed a rag ball of a child of the locality.

Before the pope departed, Roseta sang the "Ave Maria" in Portuguese in the Fado style. He was seen off by President of the Republic Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and president of Scholas Occurrentes Jose Maria del Corral. Top of Form