[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”4.27.2″ custom_margin=”-50px||73px||false|false” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_fullwidth_slider show_image_video_mobile=”on” use_bg_overlay=”off” use_text_overlay=”off” arrows_custom_color=”#020443″ dot_nav_custom_color=”#020443″ _builder_version=”4.27.2″ background_enable_image=”off” custom_button=”on” button_text_color=”#ffffff” module_alignment=”center” custom_margin=”100px||||false|false” custom_padding=”38px||420px|||” auto=”on” auto_ignore_hover=”on” hover_transition_duration=”10ms” hover_transition_delay=”10ms” hover_transition_speed_curve=”ease-out” hover_transition_duration_tablet=”” hover_transition_duration_phone=”” hover_transition_duration_last_edited=”on|desktop” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_slide _builder_version=”4.27.2″ background_color=”RGBA(255,255,255,0)” background_enable_color=”on” background_image=”http:\/\/international.addu.edu.ph\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/learning-session-scaled.jpg” background_enable_image=”on” background_size=”contain” global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_transition=”on”][\/et_pb_slide][et_pb_slide _builder_version=”4.27.2″ background_enable_color=”off” background_image=”http:\/\/international.addu.edu.ph\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/577026896_1658596295413887_507552928321070731_n.jpg” background_enable_image=”on” background_size=”contain” global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_transition=”on”][\/et_pb_slide][et_pb_slide _builder_version=”4.27.2″ background_enable_color=”off” background_image=”http:\/\/international.addu.edu.ph\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/SL-tourism-scaled.jpg” background_enable_image=”on” background_size=”contain” global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_transition=”on”][\/et_pb_slide][et_pb_slide _builder_version=”4.27.2″ background_enable_color=”off” background_image=”http:\/\/international.addu.edu.ph\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/577028912_1658596372080546_3213965552016381146_n.jpg” background_enable_image=”on” background_size=”contain” global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_transition=”on”][\/et_pb_slide][\/et_pb_fullwidth_slider][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.2″ text_font=”|700|||||||” text_font_size=”20px” background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
Musings from the VI Uniservitate Global Symposium<\/em><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.2″ text_text_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.59)” background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n By Ms. Shela Mae D. Jaso, Arrupe Office of Social Formation <\/em><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.2″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n I had the grateful opportunity to represent our university at the VI Uniservitate Global Symposium held on 5\u20137 November 2025 at the Catholic University of Eichst\u00e4tt-Ingolstadt in Germany. It was a deeply enriching and mission-affirming experience that brought together rectors, professors, researchers, students, and leaders in solidarity service-learning (SSL) from the Uniservitate Global Network. At least 97 participants\u2014including speakers, reactors, and moderators\u2014from 28 countries across Asia-Oceania, Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Americas shared their inspiring experiences of the transformative praxis of service-learning within their universities, highlighting the strength of collaboration and the impact of student-led S-L initiatives.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”2_5,3_5″ _builder_version=”4.27.2″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”50px||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”2_5″ _builder_version=”4.27.2″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_blurb image=”http:\/\/international.addu.edu.ph\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1.1.jpg” _builder_version=”4.27.2″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_blurb][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”3_5″ _builder_version=”4.27.2″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_blurb image=”http:\/\/international.addu.edu.ph\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1.2.jpg” _builder_version=”4.27.2″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_blurb][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”30px||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.2″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Pre-Conference Activities<\/strong><\/p>\n On November 4, delegates from the Asia and Oceania Hub were treated to an inspiring glimpse of the service-learning initiatives at the Catholic University of Eichst\u00e4tt-Ingolstadt, particularly those led by Education and Music majors. Education students, enrolled in a course on teaching strategies for second-language learning, reached out to refugees from Ukraine, Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan by offering tutorials for children and organizing Deutschcaf\u00e9<\/em> sessions for adult learners. Meanwhile, Music majors created \u201ccommunity music\u201d spaces where people of all ages\u2014refugees, foreigners, and Germans alike\u2014could learn instruments, explore body percussion, and sing together. As a heartwarming bonus, a group of children and young people, mostly Ukrainian refugees, performed songs in both Ukrainian and German.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ _builder_version=”4.27.2″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”50px||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.27.2″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_blurb image=”http:\/\/international.addu.edu.ph\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/2.1.jpg” _builder_version=”4.27.2″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_blurb][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.27.2″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_blurb image=”http:\/\/international.addu.edu.ph\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/2.2.jpg” _builder_version=”4.27.2″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_blurb][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”30px||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.2″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n On 5 November, representatives from the Uniservitate Asia-Oceania Hub gathered to report on the progress of S-L institutionalization in each member university (based on an assessment tool submitted prior to the conference). The group also explored possible creative S-L social innovations moving forward.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.16″ locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row column_structure=”2_5,3_5″ _builder_version=”4.27.2″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”50px||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”2_5″ _builder_version=”4.27.2″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_blurb image=”http:\/\/international.addu.edu.ph\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/3.2.jpg” _builder_version=”4.27.2″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_blurb][et_pb_blurb _builder_version=”4.27.2″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_blurb][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”3_5″ _builder_version=”4.27.2″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_blurb image=”http:\/\/international.addu.edu.ph\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/3.1.jpg” _builder_version=”4.27.2″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_blurb][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.27.2″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.2″ text_text_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.59)” background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Photos by Uniservitate Asia-Oceania Hub member-universities with team Uniservitate-CLAYSS and Fr. Ezio Lorenzo Bono, CSF. Global Compact on Education. Dicastery for Culture and Education<\/em><\/p>\n <\/em><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.2″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n Catholic Universities \u201cdrawing maps of hope\u201d through S-L<\/strong><\/p>\n In the days that followed, the conversations and exchanges revealed how strongly service-learning emerges as a way through which universities nurture peace and hope in a world wounded by conflict, inequality, and social and ecological injustice.<\/p>\n The plenary and parallel sessions created space for universities and institutions to share how their contexts shape their Service-Learning initiatives.<\/p>\n Particularly poignant and moving were the stories shared by the faculty and students from the University of Bethlehem and the University of Ukraine, who witnessed the power of service-learning amid ongoing conflict.<\/p>\n For the University of Ukraine, even as the war continues, they have chosen to move forward\u2014beginning the long work of rebuilding, healing, and restoring hope within their communities. Dr. Taras Dobko, the rector, shared that 86% of their S-L students are engaged in volunteer service. He reflected, \u201cWhen everything around us is uncertain, values and principles become solid ground to stand on, helping people to focus not only on survival but also on the victory of good, establishing dignity, showing solidarity, and caring for the common good. That is why participating in service-learning before the full-scale invasion was a crucial decision for our university; it prepared our community to endure the turbulence of war.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n The stories shared affirmed that service-learning is a key component in how Catholic institutions respond to today\u2019s urgent societal and ecological needs.<\/p>\n Pope Francis, in his Apostolic Letter Drawing Maps of Hope<\/em>, celebrated Service-Learning as a hopeful space where the mind and heart walk together, calling it \u201cone of the most promising ways to combine knowledge and solidarity, intellect and compassion.\u201d Pope Leo XIV echoes this by emphasizing that education and service form an indivisible pair: \u201cS-L is the pedagogy of reciprocity, where one learns by serving and serves by learning.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.27.2″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.27.2″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_blurb _builder_version=”4.27.2″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_blurb][et_pb_blurb image=”http:\/\/international.addu.edu.ph\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/4.jpg” _builder_version=”4.27.2″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_blurb][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.2″ text_text_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.59)” background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Photo by Parallel Session on Education and Promotion of Peace and Citizenship Service-Learning as a Pathway to Active Citizenship and Conflict Transformation Facilitator: Candelaria Ferrara. Uniservitate regional hub coordinator \u2013 CLAYSS. Reactor: Fr. Ezio Lorenzo Bono, CSF. Global Compact on Education. Dicastery for Culture and Education. Sophia Opatska and Khrystyna Rutar\u2013\u00a0 Ukrainian Catholic University. Ukraine Dr. Maximiliane Schumm, Laura Kovac\u00a0 and Dr. Petra Hiebl \u2013 Catholic University\u00a0 Eichst\u00e4tt-Ingolstadt, Germany. Rev. Dr. Mark Owusu \u2013 Catholic University of Ghana.\u00a0 Eduardo F. Guti\u00e9rrez Gonz\u00e1lez, SJ \u2013 Pontificia Universidad Javeriana de Bogot\u00e1, Facultad de Teolog\u00eda Asst. Prof. Froilan A. Alipao Simbahayan \u2013 University of Santo Tomas, Philippines.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/em><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”30px||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.2″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Meeting of University Rectors<\/strong><\/p>\n On November 6, we participated in a hybrid meeting of university rectors, which deepened our connections within the Uniservitate network. What stood out powerfully was our shared commitment to advancing \u00a0the S-L pedagogy\u2014indeed, a way of proceeding\u2014rooted in \u201csocial love,\u201d solidarity, and integral human and ecological development.<\/p>\n I shared how our university, through Fortiores 2030<\/em>, promotes Service-Learning as a core formation component, especially in forming our students as \u201cpersons for and with others\u201d – discerning leaders and citizens distinguished by their character, professional competence, compassion, conscience, courage, cultural rootedness, and commitment to community and the common good.<\/em> \u00a0S-L becomes integral\u2014not simply an add-on but a way of proceeding grounded in the Ignatian pedagogical paradigm. Through discernment, accompaniment, dialogue, and journeying with partner communities, we form students who not only learn about society but learn with and from it<\/strong>. In light of Commitment\u00a0 2, we maximize Service-Learning\u2019s integrative power, positioning it at the intersection of teaching, research, and community engagement.[i]<\/a><\/p>\n Listening to the sharing of others reminded me that while our contexts differ, we share one horizon: to accompany students in becoming compassionate, discerning, and engaged persons \u2014and, in doing so, to help nurture a peaceful, hopeful, and sustainable planet.\u00a0<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.27.2″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_blurb _builder_version=”4.27.2″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_blurb][et_pb_blurb image=”http:\/\/international.addu.edu.ph\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/5.jpg” _builder_version=”4.27.2″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_blurb][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.2″ text_text_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.59)” background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Hybrid meeting of University Rectors and Vice Rectors on 6 November 2025<\/em><\/p>\n <\/em><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.2″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n \u201cTo educate is always an act of hope.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n This year\u2019s global symposium reaffirmed a truth I continue to rediscover. Despite the complexities of our time\u2014named so vividly by Pope Leo XIV in his recent Apostolic Exhortation Drawing New Maps of Hope<\/em>\u2014he reminds us of the \u201clodestar\u201d that is the Global Compact on Education: \u201cEach star has its own brightness, but together they chart a course\u2026 Unity is our most prophetic strength.\u201d<\/em> Every university, institution, educator, student, and community partner shines in its own way, yet together we form a constellation that points toward the future of education.\u201d<\/p>\n In his concluding message, Fr. Ezio Bono, representing the Prefect of the Dicastery for Culture and Education, echoed the Pope\u2019s call to \u201crestore to education its spiritual breath\u2014as spaces of silence, conscience, and dialogue with God.\u201d<\/p>\n Service-Learning is a \u201cpedagogy of the deep.\u201d It invites us to accompany young people in their search for meaning, to educate them for service, and to witness to wisdom that heals and to knowledge that becomes loving action. \u201cTo educate, then, is to pour out the oil of love that heals the wounds of those entrusted to our care.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n As universities and institutions, we are called to \u201cdraw new maps of hope\u201d<\/em> among the constellations of our sky. Educators and formators can become constellations of meaning\u2014capable of illuminating the darkness of our time and guiding young people who often feel lost. And even when we cannot see the stars, we can be certain that they are always there.<\/p>\n
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