Pope Leo XIV Warns Students that Technology "without a soul does not truly improve life" but "A living relationship with God comforts us, giving meaning to our crosses" FULL TEXT
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Upon his arrival, the Pope was greeted at the University entrance by the Grand Chancellor, Bishop of Chiclayo, His Excellency Edinson Edgardo Farfán Córdova, and the Rector, Patricia Julia Campos Olazábal. Accompanied by the two, he entered the campus while the choir sang a hymn.
Pope Leo XIV then took a short golf cart ride among those present, before reaching the stage set up in front of the rector's office.
After the introductory words of the Grand Chancellor, Bishop of Chiclayo, and the Rector, and the testimonies of a student, a teacher, and an academic authority, the Holy Father delivered his address.
The meeting then concluded with a blessing, the giving of gifts, and a final song.
At the end, the Pope greeted some of the authorities present and took leave of the Rector and the Grand Chancellor. He then boarded his car and traveled to the Colegio Santo Toribio de Mogrovejo , where he dined with the priests of the Diocese of Chiclayo.
Around 6,000 people gathered at Santo Toribio de Mogrovejo Catholic University to follow the meeting with the Pope. Around 50,000 people lined the route to greet the Holy Father.
Arriving at the Santo Toribio de Mogrovejo College , the Pope briefly greeted the Chiclayo volunteers gathered in the theater and dined with the priests of the Diocese of Chiclayo.
MEETING WITH THE UNIVERSITY WORLD
FULL ADDRESS OF THE HOLY FATHER LEO XIV
Catholic University “Santo Toribio de Mogrovejo” (Chiclayo)
Friday, November 13, 2026
___________________________________
Full Text Address
to Brothers in the Episcopate,
distinguished academic authorities,
Dr. Patricia Campos, Rector of this University,
respected political and civil authorities,
esteemed professors, researchers and other administrative staff,
and dear students:
It is a great joy for me to return to Chiclayo and find you here at USAT ( Santo Toribio de Mogrovejo Catholic University) . First, I thank the Lord, the God of life, for the years He has allowed me to share in this mission, serving the Peruvian people. Second, I thank you, because during my years as Grand Chancellor of this institution you have helped me understand that authority is service, that government is listening, and that education is a noble act of hope.
This gathering invites us to remember the enduring legacy of the patron saint of this University, Saint Toribio de Mogrovejo : renowned jurist and Archbishop of Lima, who made his own life a lesson in wisdom, charity, and justice. The faith he preached and the science he taught must continue to be the compass guiding research in these halls. The university, and the Catholic university in particular, is a living community where the search for truth becomes an act of love and service to the great human family (cf. St. John Paul II , Apostolic Constitution Ex corde Ecclesiae , 1-2). By involving you, young people, as protagonists, the quality of academic formation is measured, above all, by its capacity to make you wise, honest, and mature men and women.
You know that we are going through complex cultural changes. In this context, the university is called to be a forge of talent and a laboratory of meaning: a space where intelligence does not bow to utility, but rather serves the truth faithfully. Above all, the Truth with a capital T, which is Christ, the Savior of the world. In this way, the Catholic university works for the fruitfulness of the encounter between faith and reason, between religion and science: dialoguing with humility, inquiring rigorously, and always seeking the common good. This academic style frees us from the temptation to produce skilled labor for an exclusive and highly competitive market.
Progress that is indifferent to justice and the dignity of workers becomes, in effect, a mechanism of oppression and exclusion. The Catholic university, therefore, has the duty to remind everyone, in the public and political sphere, that science without conscience ruins everyone's life. Likewise, technology without a soul does not truly improve life: a humanist and Christian education, however, sustains our capacity to forge lasting fraternal relationships, so that we may navigate the digital age by moving from mere connection to authentic relationships that tend toward communion. Technology, dear friends, is not always neutral: sometimes its forms bear the imprint, the interests, and the ambitions of those who design and control it. For this reason, it is necessary to study it with a clear mind and a pure heart.
The most lethal risk is submission to the technocratic paradigm, which reduces reality to material data, with efficiency as its supreme value. Both academics and students are called to exercise critical thinking: always seek the wisdom that neither machines nor computer programs can possess. Only in this way will technological progress serve our integral development, safeguarding the dignity of each person and promoting the common good.
Faced with this mission, the example of Saint Toribio de Mogrovejo illuminates our path. In his time, when indigenous peoples were frequently subjected to exploitation and discrimination, he defended their human dignity with evangelical fervor. Saint Toribio learned the languages of the people he served, proclaiming the Gospel within their culture and writing a catechism for them, one of the first in the Americas written in native languages. His pastoral work testifies to how the logic of the Incarnation continues to bear fruit in every time and place through the mission of the Church. Saint Toribio 's great cultural work in these lands continues to inspire us. Today, in fact, the deserts are not only the arid expanses of Lambayeque, which the holy shepherd crossed on horseback: they are the new moral and civic illiteracy that excludes the poor. A university modeled on his example is called to use scientific innovation to reduce social inequalities and heal the wounds of society.
Thus, dear professors and students, we now come to reflect on a crucial point in contemporary thought: the human limit, that is, humanity as a limit. Today, the promises of transhumanism and posthumanism are multiplying: these are ideological currents according to which—sooner or later—technology will eliminate all illness and pain, as well as aging and even death itself. Precisely because progress in the sciences is a supreme fruit of human intelligence, it should not be confused with a privilege for millionaires who aspire to immortality, while entire populations suffer misery and oppression. We are thus sold the illusion of human beings optimized by cybernetics and biotechnology. Faced with this mirage, Christian anthropology reminds us that the limit is not a manufacturing defect, but rather the condition of human greatness.
Limits, in fact, are a call to solidarity and openness to transcendence. While the myth of self-sufficiency traps us in selfishness and leads us to discard the weak, recognizing our own fragility makes us attentive to everyone's needs. Saint Toribio de Mogrovejo experienced physical limitations on his arduous journeys; he fell ill, suffered from exhaustion, and from the incomprehension of the powerful. Moreover, it was precisely through such a tested life that he transformed the ecclesial and social history of an entire country. Today, it is up to us to renew his example!
Dear young students: you are the "natives" of this new era. Embrace the opportunities it offers you, contemplate them in the light of faith, which is a torch in the confusion and darkness of loneliness, boredom, and pain. Angela has told us this with great sincerity, showing that faith always gives hope. It doesn't deceive like magic, which pretends to make any problem disappear. A living relationship with God comforts us, giving meaning to our crosses, which the Lord Jesus carries with us. This is how to live faith as a virtue, that is, as a force that gives wisdom and strength, that leads us to what is essential, as Adriano has explained. Both prayer and study transform our minds, even changing our lives. Then, truth becomes a choice, and both prayer and study move from reflection to action: both become a task that seeks and finds joy in every phase of life.
In this regard, Professor Guzmán shared with us a very profound word: sacrifice . In common parlance, this term indicates renunciation, but above all it means making sacred : a gesture through which our entire existence, even that which the world rejects, acquires value. United to the sacrifice of Christ, which reveals the true meaning of this experience, let us open our lives, our struggles and hopes, to the work of God. He always transforms into good that which we place in his Fatherly hands.
Dear professors and academic authorities: discover, with wonder and passion, that your work is a profound expression of intellectual charity. As you guide these young people in their classes and research, offer each one a consistent example of life: be free thinkers, for whom truth precedes opinion, and justice precedes self-interest. Together with your students, pursue wisdom with tenacity, so that you may share it in your communities, with your colleagues, and with Peruvian society. Cultivating your scientific expertise, translate it into works of social justice, especially for the benefit of the poorest and in the care of creation, so wounded today by speculations that disregard the common good.
Dear friends, I encourage you to continue with renewed vigor in your educational endeavors. For this reason, I invoke upon all of you, and upon your work, the intercession of the Virgin Mary, Seat of Wisdom
. May she, who welcomed the Eternal Word into her womb, teach you to journey through this time with courage and faith. May God always bless you!
Spontaneous greeting from the Holy Father to the volunteers at the San Toribio de Mogrovejo School.
Thank you very much!
There's only one word I want to say to you, and that is "thank you, thank you, thank you," for everything you're doing. You've given your time, your energy, and some of you have made great sacrifices to help organize this event, along with many other volunteers and so many other people, so that this visit from me could take place.
And I say: thank you, you are all wonderful. A round of applause for all of you. Jesus came to teach us many things, but one of the most important is precisely learning to serve, to give our lives in service to others.
Don't think only of yourselves, but look for ways to use the gifts you have received to serve others. In these days, perhaps under difficult circumstances, you have given your time and effort to help, to help a great deal. So, know that you are in my prayers; in that sense, you are truly at the heart of the Church, and the service you are providing is great and very important.
I'm going to invite you to stand up and let's pray.
I'm going to give you my blessing, and then I'll come over to take some pictures. Please stay where you are.
Prayer is always very important for every Christian. Let's pray together as Jesus taught us.
(Our Father)
And to Mary, Our Mother, let us say:
(Hail Mary)
(Apostolic Blessing)
Thank you so much!
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