By Kielce Gussie
Continuing the week-long series of events for the Jubilee of the World of Education, Pope Leo XIV met with students in the Paul VI Audience Hall on Thursday. He began his address by expressing his joy and anticipation for this event as it reminded him of the time he spent teaching mathematics to young students.
The Pope first recalled the example of the recently canonized Italian student, Pier Giorgio Frassati, and two of his mottos: “To live without faith…is not living but simply getting along,” and “To the heights.” Pope Leo then added his own encouragement to the young students: “Have the courage to live life to the fullest.”
He stressed that they should not settle for fads, appearances, or fleeting pleasures. Rather, the Holy Father challenged them to “long for something greater.” This is the desire of young people who hope and plan for a better society. Therefore, he urged them to strive “toward the heights” as a beacon of hope.
“How wonderful it would be if one day your generation were remembered as the ‘generation plus,’ remembered for the extra drive you brought to the Church and the world,” Pope Leo said. But he also warned against keeping this desire a dream. The Pope explained the answer to achieving this is through education, “one of the most beautiful and powerful tools for changing the world.”
A new season of education
The Holy Father recalled how his predecessor, Pope Francis, began the Global Compact on Education project in 2020, which is dedicated to engaging younger generations in global fraternity. He reminded the students present that they are not simply recipients of education, “but its protagonists.”
For this reason, the Pope urged them to come together for “a new season of education” where everyone becomes witnesses of truth and peace. But they must not do this alone. He encouraged them to include their friends in the search for truth and the building of peace.
To help students with this task, Pope Leo referred to a reflection by St. John Henry Newman, who once said that “knowledge grows when it is shared, and that it is through the conversation of minds that the flame of truth is kindled.”
Like stars, the Holy Father explained, true peace is realized when many people come together and create a design. By working together, he continued, “we can form educational constellations that guide the path forward.”
Look to the stars
Reflecting on the stars, the Pope explained how, throughout history, people have used them as guides—from sailors to the Polynesians, from farmers in the Andes to the Magi in the Nativity story.
Just like our ancestors, he pointed out, we too have stars to guide us: our parents, professors, priests, and friends. They help keep us on track through the challenges of life. In turn, we are also all called to be “shining witnesses” for those around us. Alone, we are individual stars, but together, we form a constellation.
Education is a path that brings people together. It encourages us to look towards the sky, upward and higher. Education is a tool to help us look beyond and see what we otherwise would not.
So rather than looking down at our phones, the Holy Father challenged the students to “instead, look to the sky, to the heights.”
We are made for so much more
Returning to the Global Compact on Education, Pope Leo recalled how young people themselves proposed the first of the new challenges in this project: “Help us in our education of the interior life.” He shared that having a vast knowledge is not sufficient if we do not know who we are or what the meaning of life is.
“Without silence, without listening, without prayer, even the light of the stars goes out,” he explained. Some might have experienced feelings of emptiness or restlessness in various forms, including violence, bullying, oppression. But behind this, the Pope highlighted, is “a void created by a society that has forgotten how to form the spiritual dimension of the human person, focusing only on the technical, social or moral aspects of life.”
St. Augustine’s autobiography, The Confessions, can help us see how to educate ourselves for the interior life. We must listen to our restlessness and avoid fleeing from it or filling the void with fleeting things. Pope Leo stressed that we must not settle, because we are made for so much more.
Education in the digital world
The second of the new educational challenges is a daily commitment in which these young students are actually the teachers: digital education. Here, the Pope urged caution. We live in a digital world, yet we should not let technology write our story nor use us.
Turning to another challenge of the modern world, Pope Leo touched on artificial intelligence, stressing that while it is “intelligent,” we must still use it to act humanely. We must “learn to humanize the digital, building it as a space of fraternity and creativity – not a case where you lock yourselves in, not an addiction or an escape.” Here, he referred to the life of St. Carlo Acutis as an example of holiness in the age of technology.
Peace and education
The third challenge of Pope Francis’ project is education for peace – the challenge “at the heart of the new Global Compact on Education.” We have the power to change the future that is threatened by war and hatred and division. The answer? “An education for peace that is disarmed and disarming.”
But it is more than just silencing weapons, the Pope explained. “We must disarm hearts, renouncing all violence and vulgarity.” A disarmed and disarming education helps create equality and growth for everyone, while also recognizing the dignity of all and avoiding division among people.
Pope Leo invited everyone present to first become peacemakers in their everyday lives. He urged them not to look for shooting stars. Rather, “look higher still, toward Jesus Christ, ‘the sun of righteousness’, who will always guide you along the paths of life.” – Vatican News
