Pope Leo XIV Tells University "work joyfully so that everyone can discover Christ and, in Him, find the fulfillment to which they aspire" FULL TEXT

Rome's Pontifical Lateran University, known since a historic 1980 address by Pope John Paul II as “the Pope’s university,” today opened its 253rd academic year.
On Friday morning, Grand Chancellor Cardinal Baldassare Reina, Rector Magnificus Archbishop Alfonso V. Amarante, members of the coordinating council, professors, students, civil and religious authorities, and staff welcomed Pope Leo XIV.
In the university’s Aula Magna, the Pope participated in its Dies Academicus, a moment of reflection and encounter which marked the beginning of the academic year.
ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE LEO XIV
TO THE PONTIFICAL LATERAN UNIVERSITY
FOR THE INAUGURATION OF THE ACADEMIC YEAR

Aula Magna Benedict XVI, Pontifical Lateran University
Friday, November 14, 2025
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Dear brothers and sisters ,

I greet the Grand Chancellor, Cardinal Reina—whom I thank for his kind words—, the Rector, His Excellency Monsignor Amarante, the members of the Superior Coordinating Council, the teachers, students, auxiliary staff, and the civil and religious authorities present.

I am delighted to be here among you, at the Pontifical Lateran University , for the inauguration of the 253rd academic year since its founding. This is a special occasion, on which, while we look with gratitude to the long history that precedes us, we are also intent on the mission that awaits us, the paths to explore, the service we must offer the Church in today's world and in the face of future challenges. A grateful gaze on the past, therefore, but also eyes and hearts turned toward the future , because the precious service provided by the university is needed.

Every university, in fact, is a place of study, research, training, relationships, and connections with the reality in which it is inserted. In particular, ecclesiastical and pontifical universities, erected or approved by the Apostolic See, are communities in which the "necessary cultural mediation of faith is developed which, articulating itself in a reflection open to dialogue with other fields of knowledge, finds its primary and perennial source in Jesus Christ." [1]

Among academic institutions, the Lateran University has a very special bond with the Successor of Peter, and this has been a constitutive feature of its identity and mission since its origins, when in 1773 Clement XIV entrusted the school of theology of the Roman College to the secular clergy, requesting that this institution depend on the Pope for the formation of its priests. From that moment on, all subsequent Pontiffs have maintained and strengthened a privileged relationship with what would become the current Lateran University . Among them, Blessed Pius IX , who established the structure, still in force, of four Faculties: Theology , Philosophy , Canon Law , Civil Law , with the power to confer academic degrees in Utroque Iure ; Leo XIII , who founded the Institute of Higher Literature; Pius XII , who erected the Pontifical Pastoral Institute at the Athenaeum ; Saint John XXIII , who conferred the title of University on the Athenaeum; and Saint Paul VI , who, already a professor in these halls, visiting the University upon his election reaffirmed the close bond between it and the Roman Curia.

This special relationship was underlined by Saint John Paul II : "You constitute," he said, "in a special way, the University of the Pope : a title undoubtedly honorific, but for that very reason burdensome." With equally affectionate words, this bond was reaffirmed by Pope Benedict and Pope Francis ; the latter wished to establish two cycles of studies: in Peace Sciences and in Ecology and Environment.

In reiterating and confirming all that was established and granted by my venerable Predecessors, I am keen to point out the particular mission of the Pontifical Lateran University in the present circumstances.

This University, unlike other illustrious academic institutions, including those in Rome, does not have a founder's charisma to preserve, deepen, and develop; rather, its unique orientation is the magisterium of the Pontiff. By its nature and mission, therefore, it constitutes a privileged center where the teaching of the universal Church is elaborated, received, developed, and contextualized. From this perspective, it is an institution to which the Roman Curia can also draw for its daily work.

At the same time, academic reflection, inspired by the Petrine charism, opens itself to interdisciplinary, international, and intercultural perspectives. This mission finds its differentiated application in the four Faculties and two Institutes present here, and in the three Institutes ad instar facultatis , with external branches: the Pontifical Patristic Institute Augustinianum , of the Augustinians; the Pontifical Alphonsian Academy for Studies in Moral Theology, of the Redemptorists; and the Pontifical Claretianum Institute of Theology of Consecrated Life, of the Claretians.

To these must be added the 28 Institutes associated in various ways on three continents – Europe, Asia and America – both with the Faculty of Theology and with the Institutum Utriusque Iuris : a broad and diverse reality, an expression of the richness of cultures and experiences and, at the same time, of the search for unity and fidelity to Petrine teaching.

Dear friends, today we urgently need to think about faith so that we can adapt it to current cultural scenarios and challenges, but also to counter the risk of a cultural vacuum that, in our age, is becoming increasingly pervasive. In particular, the Faculty of Theology is called to reflect on the deposit of faith and to bring out its beauty and credibility in different contemporary contexts, so that it appears as a fully human proposal, capable of transforming the lives of individuals and society, of triggering prophetic changes in the face of the tragedies and poverty of our time, and of encouraging the search for God. This mission requires that the Christian faith be communicated and transmitted in the various spheres of ecclesial life and action, and for this reason I consider the service provided by the Pastoral Institute to be vitally important.

At the Lateran University , the study of philosophy (cf. Veritatis gaudium , art. 81. § 1) must be aimed at the search for truth through the resources of human reason, open to dialogue with cultures and especially with Christian Revelation, for the integral development of the human person in all its dimensions. This is an important commitment, even in the face of the sometimes defeatist attitude that characterizes contemporary thought, as well as with respect to the emerging forms of rationality linked to transhumanism and posthumanism.

The Law, Canon, and Civil Law Faculties, which have distinguished our University for centuries, are called to study and teach law through the broadest appreciation of the comparison between the legal systems of civil law and that of the Catholic Church. In particular, I encourage you to consider and study administrative processes in depth, an urgent challenge for the Church.

Finally, a special mention should be made of the study programs in Peace Sciences and Ecology and Environment, which will take on a more defined institutional form over the years. The themes they address are an essential part of the recent Magisterium of the Church, which, established as a sign of the covenant between God and humanity, is called to train peacemakers and justice workers who build and bear witness to the Kingdom of God. Peace is certainly a gift from God, but it also requires women and men capable of building it daily and supporting the processes toward an integral ecology at the national and international levels. I therefore ask my University to continue developing and strengthening these two study programs at an inter- and trans-disciplinary level and, if necessary, to integrate them with other programs.

All this concerns the educational mission of the University in general, but I would also like to imagine, together with you, the Lateran University as a space that—as I said at the beginning—has its eyes and heart focused on the future, and embraces contemporary challenges through some unique dimensions that I will briefly underline.

The first is this: reciprocity and fraternity must be at the heart of education . Today, unfortunately, the word "person" is often used as a synonym for individual, and the allure of individualism as the key to a successful life has disturbing implications in every area: the focus is on self-promotion, the primacy of the ego is fostered and cooperation is difficult, prejudices and barriers towards others, especially those who are different, grow, the service of responsibility is exchanged for solitary leadership , and, ultimately, misunderstandings and conflicts multiply. Academic education helps us move beyond self-referentiality and promotes a culture of reciprocity, of otherness, of dialogue. Against what the Encyclical Fratelli tutti defines as "the virus of radical individualism" ( n. 105 ), I ask you to cultivate reciprocity, through relationships marked by generosity and experiences that foster fraternity and the exchange between different cultures. The Pontifical Lateran University , enriched by the presence of students, faculty, and staff from the five continents, represents a microcosm of the universal Church: therefore, be a prophetic sign of communion and fraternity.

The second dimension I would like to emphasize is scientific excellence , which must be promoted, defended, and developed. Academic service often lacks due appreciation, partly due to deep-rooted prejudices that unfortunately also permeate the ecclesial community. Sometimes we encounter the idea that research and study are of no use to real life, that what matters in the Church is pastoral practice rather than theological, biblical, or legal preparation. The risk is that of slipping into the temptation to simplify complex issues to avoid the burden of thought, with the danger that, even in pastoral action and its language, we may descend into banality, approximation, or rigidity.

Scientific inquiry and the labor of research are necessary. We need trained and competent laypeople and priests. Therefore, I urge you not to lower your guard on scientific matters, but to pursue a passionate search for truth and a close engagement with other sciences, with reality, and with the problems and travails of society.

This requires the University to have well-prepared faculty, equipped—pastoral, legal, and financial—to dedicate themselves to academic life and research; and for students to be motivated and enthusiastic, and willing to engage in rigorous study. It requires the University to engage with other centers of study and teaching, so that, within this inter- and trans-disciplinary perspective, it can explore unexplored paths.

The third dimension I briefly recall is that of the common good . The goal of the educational and academic process, in fact, must be to train people who, in the spirit of generosity and a passion for truth and justice, can build a new, supportive, and fraternal world. The university can and must spread this culture, becoming a sign and expression of this new world and the pursuit of the common good.

Dear all, an illustrious theologian of this University, Professor Marcello Bordoni, in one of his reflections on the relationship between Christology and inculturation, states that it is necessary to take on the task of thinking about faith and «dialogue with the world, with its changing history which often challenges the faith of the Christian in the face of new problems and new life situations, constitutes the training ground for this commitment which is the “effort of the concept”» (M. Bordoni, Theological Reflection on the Truth of Christian Revelation , in Path 2002/2, 263).

I hope you continue to explore the mystery of the Christian faith with this passion, and to always practice dialogue with the world, with society, and with today's questions and challenges. The Lateran University holds a special place in the Pope's heart, and he encourages you to dream big, to imagine possible spaces for the Christianity of the future, to work joyfully so that everyone can discover Christ and, in Him, find the fulfillment to which they aspire.

Thank you! And have a great academic year!

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[1] Letter of the Holy Father Francis to the bishops for the support of the Pontifical Lateran University , 13 December 2024.