Pope Leo XIV relaunches an education based on love, truth and hope for Catholic schools and universities
Pope Leo XIV’s document published «to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Gravissimum Educationis and to reflect on the relevance of the Council Declaration and the challenges that education must face today, in particular for schools and the university Catholic.” The prefect of the Dicastery of Culture and Education of the Holy See, card. José Tolentino de Mendonça. And he had anticipated that to Jubilee education would be associated with the figure of Saint John Henry Newman.
Under the gaze of Mary Seat of Wisdom, depicted by the ancient statue next to the Altar of the Confession of St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Leo XIV signs the apostolic letter «Drawing new maps of hope», 60 years after the conciliar declaration Gravissimum educationis of Paul VI, for the anniversary of the document of the Second Vatican Council.
Study makes you capable of taking an overall look
In the homily of the celebration, which opens the Jubilee of the educational world, the Pontiff asks the Lord that the experience of university study and research can make students capable of taking a new, more comprehensive and broader viewhelp them “to know how to say, tell, explore and announce the reasons for the hope that is within us”, and train them “to be women and men who are never hunched over but always standing”, capable of bringing “the joy and consolation of the Gospel” everywhere. And remind universities that educating is a true act of love and that «satisfying the hunger for truth and meaning is a necessary task, because without truth and authentic meanings one can enter the void and one can even die».
Those who study look at the mystery of life
The Pope underlines that in these months, by celebrating the Jubilee, the Church experiences its “being on the journey”, reminding itself that it constantly needs to convert. And he hopes that too every student sees the Holy Year as an opportunity “through which your life can start again”. It is thus aimed at those who are part of university institutions and are engaged in study, teaching and research.
Who studiescontinues Leo XIV, «broadens one’s horizons» ed he is capable of “looking up: towards God, towards others, towards the mystery of life”.
The educational task: “feed the hunger for truth”
Following the example of Augustine, Thomas, Teresa of Avila, Edith Stein and many others, «who were able to integrate research into their lives and spiritual journey», for Leo XIV we are called to «carry forward intellectual work and the search for truth without separating them from life».
The Pontiff then urges them university to embrace the call to the educational task, that is, «satisfying the hunger for truth and meaning is a necessary task, because without truth and authentic meanings one can enter the void and even die”. Because those who educate help others to “be themselves and develop an autonomous conscience and critical thinking”. This is a true labor of love.
Education Christian
«Christian formation embraces the whole person: spiritual, intellectual, emotional, social, bodily. It does not contrast manual and theoretical, science and humanism, technique and conscience; instead it asks that professionalism be inhabited by ethics, and that ethics is not an abstract word but a daily practice”. And he adds: «Education does not measure its value only on the axis of efficiency: it measures it on dignity, on justice, on the ability to serve the common good. This integral anthropological vision must remain the cornerstone of Catholic pedagogy. It goes against a purely mercantilist approach which often today forces education to be measured in terms of functionality and practical usefulness.”
The key points of the apostolic letter
Let us therefore retrace the main messages that Leo
School and university non-Catholic I am just places of learning, but living communitieswhere knowledge meets compassion and dialogue. The family remains the first school of humanity, while teachers and students share the mission of forming responsible citizens and believers.
The Pope relaunches the Global Educational Pactwhich places the person, peace, inclusion and stewardship of creation at the centre. The Church asks to educate to one «disarmed and disarming» peaceto promote an ecological culture and to humanize the use of technology and artificial intelligence: «The decisive point is not the technology, but the use we make of it. Artificial intelligence and digital environments must be oriented towards the protection of dignity, justice and work; they must be governed with criteria of public ethics and participation.”
The «Catholic educational constellations» – schools, universities, institutes and communities around the world – become beacons of hope and social justice, especially in poor countries. The mission is clear: educate not to compete, but to serve, building bridges between faith and reason, past and future. “Catholic education has the task of rebuilding trust in a world marked by conflicts and fears, remembering that we are children and not orphans: fraternity is born from this awareness.”
Entrusting the path to the Virgin Mary, Sedes Sapientiaethe Pope invites all educators to be «choreographers of hope»credible witnesses of a wisdom that enlightens and liberates.
