My name is Francis

Silhouette of a person with a serene landscape inside, featuring a lone figure walking on a winding path under a vibrant, colorful sky.

A project that speaks to the hearts of teenagers

Have you ever wondered what St. Francis has to do with the life of a teenager today?
And above all: what can someone who lived eight hundred years ago say to you, struggling daily with anxieties, choices, dreams, quarrels, a search for meaning?
The answer to these questions is encompassed in "My name is Francis," a path designed to let you breathe in the strength, healthy rebellion, creativity and depth of a young man who-before he became a saint-was a teenager like you.
A teenager who clashed with his parents, who wanted to go his own way, who wondered what he really wanted from life.
A teenager who made mistakes, suffered, loved, changed.

And who, without knowing it, changed the world.
This project aims to talk to you about the big questions: Who am I? Where am I going? What do I really want to be?

A group of young people sitting in an audience, laughing and clapping, some with hands raised in excitement.

Person typing on a laptop with hands in focus, wearing a watch, seated on a couch, in a dimly lit setting.

A group of people seated closely in an auditorium, listening attentively. The focus is on a woman smiling in the center.

Person holding a laptop covered with colorful stickers, wearing an orange sweatshirt and dark pants, standing against a light background.

Three experiences, one journey

The project - in the startup phase aimed at students in the first three years of high school in Milan, Assisi and Palermo - weaves together three powerful moments that you will experience together with your classmates and teachers.

Classroom reading - "My name is Francis": a special edition provided free of charge by Fondazione Oltre with a foreword by Father Francesco Piloni, OFM, Provincial Minister of the Minor Friars of Umbria and Sardinia.
Workshop activities to do in class: to give a concrete and operational perspective to the project, you’ll need to make a practical commitment together with your classmates to personify and implement the charisma of St. Francis.
Theatrical performance - " St. Francis, the superstar of the Middle Ages."

A show by Giovanni Scifoni that sweeps you away with irony, freedom, sincerity - offered free of charge by Fondazione Oltre to the students involved in the project.
In addition, you can write a letter to the protagonist of the novel. The most meaningful letter will be read out publicly by Giovanni Scifoni during the events.
Do you want to test yourself? To have your say? To leave a mark?

TheThedeeperdeepermeaningmeaningofofthis?this?WeWearearenotnotaskingaskingyouyoutotobecomebecomeaasaint.saint.We’reWe’reaskaskyouyoutotododosomethingsomethingsimplersimplerandandmoremoreserious:serious:totobecomebecomeyourself. Andyourself. Andififaateenagerteenagerwhowholivedlived800800yearsyearsagoagocancanhelphelpyouyoudodothat,that,thenthenit'sit'sworthworthaatry.try.