Students part of videoconference with Pope Francis

"Dear brothers and sisters, may this Synod be a true season of the Spirit! For we need the Spirit, the ever-new breath of God, who sets us free from every form of self-absorption, revives what is moribund, loosens shackles, and spreads joy"
-Pope Francis, Oct. 9, 2021

This event begins at 10 a.m. Pacific time on Thursday, Feb. 24, and will be livestreamed. Register in advance at http://www.luc.edu/popefrancis

SPOKANE, Wash. -贡萨加大学的两名学生将与教皇方济各举行视频会议，帮助发起“搭建桥梁倡议”，来自美洲各地天主教和世俗大学的100名学生将参加会议.

The focus for the Feb. 第24届会议将发展具体的项目和持久的网络，以帮助解决与移民有关的混乱问题. Many of the students are migrants themselves or from migrant families.

Representing Gonzaga will be Shyh Saenz and Anasofia Gutierrez, who are in the midst of preparatory video calls, first with students from other Jesuit schools in the western U.S. and later with the entire group representing North, Central and South America. 他们还为哈佛大学的本科生举办了一场聆听会，听取他们对这个话题的看法.

“我打算尽可能地参与进来，分享我的想法，并希望在我的团队中担任领导角色,” said Saenz, a junior from Hayward, California, 谁是传播学专业的，是女子足球队的守门员.

Gutierrez, a senior psychology major with a goal of entering the medical field, is from Renton, Washington. She jumped at the opportunity to “meet” the pope. 当她对这个讨论的话题——移民——了解得更多时，它“真的引起了共鸣”,” she said, since both of her parents are immigrants from Mexico. For Saenz, it was her grandparents who came to the U.S. from Mexico.

科罗拉多大学的宣教与事工办公室及宗教研究系的凯文·布朗(Kevin Brown)收到邀请，从洛杉矶洛约拉玛丽蒙特大学(Loyola Marymount University)的一位同事那里挑选两名学生，这位同事与芝加哥洛约拉大学(Loyola University of Chicago)的活动组织者一起工作. They, in turn, are collaborating with Emilce Cuda, 一位阿根廷神学家，他是拉丁美洲教皇委员会办公室的新负责人.

Brown thought of Gutierrez and Saenz.

“When Dr. 南希·皮内达-马德里要求我提名两名曾在司法活动中学习或积极参与的学生, Shyh and Sofia came to my mind right away,” said Brown, an adjunct professor of religious studies. “我知道他们两人都在校园里积极地为争取种族公正而努力. 

“Just as importantly, 我知道他们都可以把这些经历和他们的个人故事融入到他们在葡京官方下载网站的课堂上学到的东西中. 正是这种综合的工作将使他们能够在与同学和教皇方济各的对话中带来重要的见解和问题.”

Their families react

Saenz, who has one younger sister, 她说，当她的家人和朋友听到视频会议的消息时，“简直不敢相信”, and she singled out her grandparents, 他们“为我感到非常自豪，并把这个消息告诉葡京官方下载网站的大家庭?.”

Saenz sings her grandparents’ praises.

“I am a product of migration,” she said. “Without my grandparents migrating from Mexico to the U.S, I would not have the life I have today. 移民来到这个国家是为了过上更好的生活，我的祖父母很幸运地来到这里，因为今天的媒体对移民的描述很差，这必须改变. 

“The city I grew up in, Hayward, is a sanctuary city and many of the people I am closest to are undocumented. 我也是在天主教的环境中长大的，并试图用我的信仰来传播团结的信息，为共同的利益帮助他人和社会正义的努力.”

When Gutierrez told her family and housemates about the invitation, she received a lot of high-pitched “What?” reactions, full of joy. She’s the oldest of four children, and one of her grandmothers lives with the family. Her parents immigrated separately, and later met and married.

“Where my family is from, the people I was raised around, it’s been an interesting experience growing up in America, attending mostly White institutions,” she said. Migration is a “huge topic,” and for her and the other students involved, “hard to wrap our heads around.”

Already active on campus

这两名学生都认为，他们的参与是他们为校园带来的能量的延伸.

“My leadership is very solution-driven,萨斯博士说:“. “I serve as the student tri-chair on Gonzaga’s Council on Diversity, Equity, 以及包容，葡京官方下载网站正在制定包容卓越战略计划，以创造一个所有人类差异都能茁壮成长的环境. 我是这里的一级女子足球队的一员，并在葡京官方下载网站的学生运动员咨询委员会和西海岸多样性会议中担任领导角色, Equity, and Inclusion.”

作为贡萨加学生团体协会多元化与包容委员会的倡导协调员, 古铁雷斯与校园里那些可能觉得没有得到充分服务或没有得到充分代表的社区保持联系. 她是他们与政府的联络人，努力确保他们的声音被听到. She also offers workshops and initiates conversations promoting diversity.

Still, Gutierrez finds time to serve as a Student Ambassador, offering campus tours to prospective students and their families. Ambassadors seem to be ubiquitous, 他们很容易被认出来，因为学生们在工作中倒退着走，所以他们可以更容易地沟通和被听到. 这个角色非常贴近古铁雷斯的心，因为她记得，作为一个即将毕业的第一代大学生和有色人种，当她第一次来到古铁雷斯时，她感到紧张，而且充满了问题. 她非常想帮助处于这种地位的人，让他们感到受欢迎，并回答那些她知道他们有但可能会犹豫问的问题.

“搭建桥梁”的愿景依赖于古铁雷斯和萨恩斯在葡京官方下载网站所采取的持续行动. 组织者希望大学生解决移民的这些方面:移民的原因, such as environmental degradation, unemployment, violence and poverty; the realities faced by people trying to migrate; and the difficulties of people who are immigrants in a new country.

Pope Francis wants to hear “ideas you are studying, proposed practical solutions, 你从个人经历、家庭和社区的经历中获得的对现实生活的智慧和洞察力,” videoconference materials say, and how the Catholic Church can “support your work, serve migrants, and catalyze progress toward environmental sustainability, economic justice and integral human development.”

“I understand that faith and justice must work together for social change to happen,萨斯博士说:“, 我知道教皇方济各(Pope Francis)的“搭建桥梁倡议”(The Building Bridges initiative)将引领这一努力.” 

Brown is both proud of the pair and confident in what they will contribute.

“这次对话是教皇方济各努力建立一个更像宗会的教会的一部分，一个在历史长河中相互倾听和学习的教会,” he said. “So, of course, 我很高兴Shyh和Sofia能够通过视频电话与教皇弗朗西斯见面. 

“但我也很高兴，教皇方济各选择了体现宗教合一的方式，愿意倾听索菲亚的经验和智慧，并从中学习。, Shyh and the other students participating in this initiative.”