Pope Leo XIV has released the second document of his pontificate, this time devoted to education in the context of the Second Vatican Council.
The text, an apostolic letter titled “Charting New Maps of Hope,” revisits and renews what Saint Paul VI signed in 1965: the landmark document Gravissimum Educationis.
Saint Paul VI, on the one hand, affirmed the right to universal education. He also laid the foundations for Catholic education, which at that time needed to adapt to new times and forms of expression.
Now Pope Leo XIV turns his attention to a defining challenge of the 21st century: artificial intelligence. His call is clear, to avoid technophobia. The Pope insists that humanity must learn to use technology wisely, without sidelining the human person.
He also draws attention to communities with few resources, emphasizing that the poor are an essential part of the educational community.
It is a constellation that reaches every continent, with a strong presence in low-income areas: a tangible promise of educational mobility and social justice […]. Where access to education remains a privilege, the Church must open doors and find new ways, because ‘to lose the poor’ is to lose the school itself.’
Pope Leo also offers key insights into how Catholic education should be understood: the Church is not just a mother, but also a teacher.
When speaking about educational communities, the Pope stresses that the family is the first school of humanity, and that educational institutions must work alongside parents, not replace them.
Reflecting on the rise of the internet, Pope Leo reminds us that people are not algorithms, but faces and stories.
If the pontiff were to give one piece of advice to students around the world, it would be the same message he once shared in Chiclayo:“No one is born a professional. Every path is built step by step, book by book, year by year, sacrifice after sacrifice.”
Trans. VL
