0
0
Pope Francis’ address to the board of trustees
of Loyola University, Chicago
Hall of Popes – Monday, 20 May 2024
“Go back to your roots in order to move forward”
Dear brothers and sisters,
I greet your President and all of you, members of the Board of Trustees of Loyola University in Chicago, who are on pilgrimage to the places where St. Ignatius of Loyola was born and grew up.
“Setting out on a journey is traditionally associated with our human quest for meaning in life” (jubilee 2025 – Spes Non Confundit, 5). Keep alive in you this desire to travel, to go on pilgrimage.
Your experience of visiting the places that marked the life and spirituality of Ignatius has certainly enriched and inspired you on your path of academic and personal formation. It was a visit to your roots. In order to move forward, one should always return to one’s roots.
You cannot move forward without roots, from which you draw your strength: you draw your strength from the roots. So go back to your roots in order to move forward.
The roots of your institution lie in the experience of its founder, St. Ignatius, who always put God first and constantly sought God’s will.
This led to his zealous pursuit of service: to advance in order to serve.
May his spiritual journey, marked by discernment and commitment to justice, continue to inspire and guide your life and work.
Indeed, Loyola University is inspired by the tradition of the Society of Jesus, founded on discernment and action.
This tradition calls you today to seek truth through deep reflection, attentive listening and courageous action.
I encourage you to persevere in this journey, to be witnesses of hope in a world often marked by division and conflict.
Thank God there are conflicts, but conflicts are resolved on another, higher level.
Conflict makes us walk in mazes, and you get out of a maze from above and not on your own.
Conflict encourages us to work together. So persevere on this path, which teaches you to cultivate a critical sense, the capacity for discernment and sensitivity to global challenges.
Always ask yourselves the question: how can our university contribute to making our world a better place? Always strive for the best!
At a time in history marked by rapid change and increasingly complex challenges, the role of academic institutions is essential.
Their task is not only to form good minds, but also to develop generous hearts and consciences attentive to the dignity of every human being.
Education takes place on three levels: the head, the heart and the hands.
Think about what you feel and do, feel what you think and do, and do what you think and feel.
But these three things should always be in harmony.
Education is not just the transmission of knowledge, but a commitment and method for forming people who are able to embody the values of reconciliation and justice in every aspect of their lives.
The mind must be formed so that the heart can be generous, able to engage with reality and the demands of the times, and the hands must be able to work actively.
Be hard-working dreamers! And above all, be so yourselves! Be hard-working dreamers!
A person who has lost the ability to dream lacks creativity, lacks poetry, and life without poetry does not work.
I encourage you to cultivate your intellectual curiosity – which is not idle chatter or gossip, which is harmful, no.
Cultivate your intellectual curiosity – your spirit of cooperation and your sensitivity to the challenges of our times, carrying on the legacy of Saint Ignatius.
We need men and women who are willing to put their abilities at the service of others, to work for a future in which each person can fulfil his or her potential and live with dignity and respect, and in which the world can find peace.
I am struck by this today: in the midst of the crisis of the global order, the idea of a possible future seems to be lacking. And we cannot live without hope. Let us not forget hope, which is an anchor on the shore and we cling to its rope. Hope never disappoints!
I especially commend to you intercultural and interreligious dialogue as a means of promoting mutual understanding, cooperation and the building of bridges between different traditions, cultures and worldviews.
May God bless you and accompany you in your journey, a journey of knowledge and service.
I pray for you, but, please, pray for me, because this job is not easy!
I will remember you in my prayers and I ask you, please, to pray for me as well. Thank you very much!!
