Pope Leo’s address to the Congress on the Pastoral Care in Schools and Universities
Paul VI Audience Hall – Thursday, October 22, 2026
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I am delighted to greet you at your Congress on the Pastoral Care in schools and Universities.
I would like to thank the Prefect of the Dicastery for Culture and Education, as well as the Secretaries and the Officials.Â
I also thank those who will promote reflection and in-depth study.
I joyfully welcome all of you who have come from so many parts of the world.
I congratulate you on your work proclaiming the Gospel and promoting human dignity in educational and academic institutions.
It is essential that the pastoral care of schools and universities respond to the desire of each individual to grow as a person and as a Christian.
Your ministry’s recipients are distinguished by the enthusiasm, generosity, and spirit of service that are characteristic of young people.
But many students also live in conditions of existential hardship.
They come from wounded families, experience digital loneliness, and feel inadequate or fearful about an uncertain future.
Many walk through the corridors of our institutes and universities, perhaps feeling anonymous.
It is important that Catholic schools and universities first be “home,” a familiar place where one is awaited.
The first proclamation often comes through the way one is welcomed: someone who looks you in the eye, remembers your name, notices your absence, and rejoices at your return
In a welcoming environment, students can freely express their desire to understand and make sense of reality.
This touches on the proper vocation of schools and universities: the common search for truth.
Therefore, I encourage you to stimulate the intelligent curiosity of young people and value their questions.
Be passionate about helping young people experience the beauty of encountering Christ as well as the fruitfulness of the synergy between faith and reason and between the knowledge of faith and other forms of knowledge – especially if you work in a Catholic institution.
School and university pastoral care must accompany the slow germination of thought, teaching discernment and perseverance in the search for knowledge.
Educational processes “require time for maturation, confrontation with reality beyond appearances, and patient journeys.”
We must “protect our young people […] from the subtle seduction that makes human thought seem useless precisely when it is most needed.”
(Encyclical Letter n. Magnifica Humanitas, n. 140).
Today, many young people are paralyzed by fear:
– fear of making mistakes,
– fear of not measuring up,
– fear of being misunderstood, and
– fear of not meeting expectations.
We live in a performance-driven culture that constantly compares and ranks people in sometimes ruthless ways.
A meritocracy that is not understood does not ends up respecting people.
This is why many people give up before they even try.
Help the young people you meet become protagonists of a new way of living in the world. Help them become builders of fraternity and a more just society.
Courage is born from a pact of trust and the experience of having someone believe in you before you believe in yourself.
Jesus did not choose the Twelve because they were courageous.
He called them, and through his trust, he made them capable.
We must tell our young people the words the disciples told the blind Bartimaeus: “Courage! Get up! He is calling you!”(Mark 10:49).
Beneath the armor that many adolescents put up, to avoid suffering, is the desire to love and be loved.
The more a school or university ministry focuses on educating the heart, the more fruitful it will be.
Teach the heart to be compassionate and grateful.
Teach it to be touched by the pain of others, to praise God, and to desire Him.
Service to the poor, volunteer work, and care for creation are not ancillary activities—they are places where the heart learns to grow.
Remember: Charity and prayer are inseparable
Dear brothers and sisters,
False teachers and deceptive messages offer quick answers to the questions of young people.
You, on the other hand, have chosen to do something greater.
You have chosen to walk alongside them until they discover the gifts God has placed within them.
Like the Risen One with the disciples of Emmaus, you draw near to them, walk with them, listen to them, explain to them, make their hearts burn, and finally allow yourself to be recognized at the breaking of bread. (cf. Lk 24:13-35). May the Holy Spirit always enlighten and sustain your service.
May Mary , the Seat of Wisdom, accompany you, along with my blessing.