It is officially known as the Lateran University, although Pope John Paul II nicknamed it “the Pope’s University.” Even Pope Paul VI, once taught there.
Recent popes have visited the institution, and Pope Leo XIV has now joined that list.
The Lateran University was founded in 1773 and, unlike other universities, does not have a specific charism. It does not belong to any religious order or congregation. Its focus is the teaching of the papal magisterium.
The pope, who has also served as a professor, offers guiding principles for adapting the Petrine charism to the present moment. He presents them through three key dimensions.
POPE LEO XIV
The first is this: at the center of formation must be reciprocity and fraternity. Today, unfortunately, the word ‘person’ is often used as a synonym for ‘individual,’ and the appeal of individualism as the key to a successful life has troubling consequences in every area.
For this reason, Pope Leo encourages solid academic formation as a way to move beyond self-referentiality. The move from individualism leads to his second point, the challenge of simplifying what is important.
POPE LEO XIV
The risk is slipping into the temptation of oversimplifying complex issues in order to avoid the effort of thinking, with the danger that even in pastoral action and its language one may fall into banality, superficiality, or rigidity.
The pope calls for well-prepared faculty who have good pastoral, legal, and economic conditions, allowing them to dedicate themselves fully to teaching and research.
Finally, the pope places the importance of the common good back at the center of academic work. This emphasis aligns with the approach of his predecessors.
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