Pope Leo XIV says "Catholic universities are called to become “pathways of the mind toward God" FULL TEXT

MESSAGE FROM THE
HOLY FATHER LEON
[Guadalajara, Mexico, July 28 - August 1, 2025]
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Dear members of the
International Federation of Catholic Universities:

In the context of the 28th General Assembly of the International Federation of Catholic Universities, which is being held this year in Guadalajara, Mexico, I thank you for the opportunity to share a few brief reflections with you.

The motto inspiring the celebration of the IFCU centenary is: “ Catholic universities, choreographers of knowledge .” It is a very beautiful expression, inviting us to harmony, unity, dynamism, and joy. In this context, we must ask ourselves what kind of music we are following. In our time, perhaps more than in other eras, there are many “siren songs” that are attractive because of their novelty, their popularity, or, on other occasions, because of the apparent security they inspire. Beyond such impressions, which are inherently superficial, Catholic universities are called to become “ pathways of the mind toward God ,” according to the felicitous expression of Saint Bonaventure, so that the timely exhortation of Saint Augustine may become a reality in us: “Consider, brothers, what happens in the human soul. Of itself it has no light, it has no power: all that is beautiful in the soul is strength and wisdom; but what it knows is not its own, nor is its power its own, nor is it light of itself […].” There is an origin and a source of strength, and a root of wisdom; there is, so to speak, a region, if it may be so called, of immutable truth; if the soul turns away from it, it enters into darkness, and if it approaches, it is illuminated" ( Commentary on the Psalms , 58, I, 18).

The university environment, with its characteristic dialogue between different worldviews, is not foreign to the being and work of the Church. To understand why, it is worth recalling, albeit briefly, how Christians, from the very beginning of evangelization, clearly perceived that the Good News could not be proclaimed without clarifying to what degree it was or was not compatible with other ways of seeing the world and other proposals about what it means to be human and live in society. In this regard, the question that Saint Paul asks the Christians of Rome is relevant, inviting them to compare their current way of life with their former one: "What profit did you get then from the works of which you are now ashamed? The result of such works is death" ( Rom 6:21). Those peoples of the classical world were not lacking in intelligence, and yet, for the Apostle, the end and outcome of all their reasoning is summed up in the word "death." Why? What was missing? Christ, the Word and Wisdom of the Father, was missing; What was missing was the One through whom and for whom all things were made (cf. Col 1:16). Christ does not come as a stranger to rational discourse, but rather as a keystone that gives meaning and harmony to all our thinking, to all our desires and projects to improve our present life and to give purpose and transcendence to human endeavor.

Saint Thomas understood well that in Christ-Wisdom there is at the same time what is most proper to our faith and what is most universal to human intelligence, and therefore, wisdom, thus understood, is the natural place of encounter and dialogue with all cultures and all forms of thought. We read in his Commentary on the Sentences that wisdom "whether it be a capacity of the intellect or a gift [of God], deals above all with the divine; and insofar as everything else can be judged by it, it is said that the wise man attains greater certainty than all" (III, d. 35, q. 2, a. 2, qc 2). Thus, we do not have to distance ourselves from Christ, nor relativize his unique and proper place, in order to converse in a respectful and fruitful manner with other schools of knowledge, ancient or recent.

Dear brothers and sisters, with the desire that Christ-Wisdom—Truth made Person, who draws the world to himself—may be the compass that guides the work of the university institutions over which you preside, and that his loving knowledge may constitute the impetus for a new evangelization in the sphere of Catholic higher education, I impart to all of you the Apostolic Blessing.

Vatican, July 21, 2025

LEO PP. XIV