In his video message sent on the occasion of the closing plenary of OIEC's World Congress, Pope Francis expressed sincere gratitude for all those who work in Catholic education. "I thank you for this service, and through you I would like to convey my sincere gratitude to all those who work in Catholic education: lay people, men and women religious, and priests," he said. He also conveyed his warmest greetings to millions of students who attend Catholic institutes in city centers, making special mention of Catholic school students who live in the peripheries of society. The Pope said young people are the "today" of God and are the today of the Catholic Church's educational mission. The OIEC International Congress 2019 -- taking place under the theme "Educatio Si" -"Be educated" -- is strongly focused on Pope Francis' encyclical "Laudato Si" (2015) and on the contribution of Catholic schools to teaching the values of solidarity, humanism, and the safeguarding of the common house.