NBCUniversal Telemundo Teams with Pope Francis' Global Initiative to Connect Millennials

NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises and Scholas Occurrentes, Pope Francis' initiative to connect, educate and inspire millennials around the world through Technology, Arts and Sports, announced a partnership to launch a series of innovative projects. These projects include the broadcast and live-stream of the next "Match for Peace" in the U.S., the production of a news special about the organization's youth outreach efforts, and the development of the first-ever fundraising social-a-thon.

"Pope Francis has developed a unique and forward thinking approach to foster community with digitally minded Millennials," said Peter E. Blacker, Executive Vice President, Digital Media and Emerging Business, NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises. "We share the foundations' goals of connecting through Technology, Arts and look forward to developing meaningful content across all our platforms."

At the heart of the Telemundo-Scholas Occurrentes partnership is the U.S. broadcast of the next "Match for Peace," which was announced by Pope Francis alongside soccer stars such as Ronaldinho and Bryan Ruiz earlier this year. The match, whose proceeds are donated to charity, would take place in ROME on October 12, 2016. Scholas was launched to the world together with soccer stars such as Lionel Messi and Gianluiggi Buffon, among others. The first "Match for Peace" was played in September 2014, featuring soccer legends such as Diego Simeone, Javier Zanetti, Gianluigi Buffon, Ivan Zamorano, and Maradona.

"Scholas communicates the hope of young people to make real the culture of encounter for peace" said José María del Corral, Scholas Global Director designated by Pope Francis.

The Telemundo-Scholas Ocurrentes partnership also includes the production of a special news program about Pope Francis and the Scholas Occurrentes' work for the first quarter of 2017 and the creation of the first-ever Scholas Occurrentes/Telemundo social-a-thon to raise funds for the organization via social media.

Earlier this year, Pope Francis was presented with the "Telemundo Innovation Award" in the context of Hispanicize 2016, the largest annual event for Latino trendsetters and newsmakers in journalism, blogging, marketing, entertainment and tech entrepreneurship. The award honors an individual innovator whose work has explored new trends, showcased pioneering spirit and greatly impacted society. Pope Francis was selected for his innovative work with Scholas Occurrentes, connecting technology with arts and sports programs in order to promote social integration, especially in poorer communities.

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