Pope Francis says "Catholic universities" - "are called to “bring the decisive contribution... of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and of the living Tradition of the Church..." FULL TEXT
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APOSTOLIC JOURNEY OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS
TO LUXEMBOURG AND BELGIUM - (26-29 September 2024)
TO LUXEMBOURG AND BELGIUM - (26-29 September 2024)
On the second day of his Apostolic Journey to Belgium on Friday, Sept. 27, Pope Francis traveled from Brussels to Leuven to meet with the EU nation’s university professors. The meeting was at the Catholic University of Leuven, which is celebrating its 600th anniversary this year. In his address, the Pope reflected on the need for Catholic universities to provide integral formation for students, so that they may learn to interpret the present and plan for the future.
MEETING WITH UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS
FULL TEXT ADDRESS OF THE HOLY FATHER, Pope Francis
“Promotiezaal” of the “Katholieke Universiteit Leuven”
Friday, 27 September 2024
___________________________
Mr. Rector, distinguished Professors,
dear brothers and sisters, good afternoon!
I am pleased to be here among you and I thank the Rector for his words of welcome, with which he recalled the history and tradition in which this University is rooted, as well as some of the main challenges of today that we all face. This is the first task of the University: to offer an integral formation so that people receive the tools necessary to interpret the present and plan the future.
Cultural education, in fact, is never an end in itself and universities must not run the risk of becoming “cathedrals in the desert”; they are, by their nature, places that propel ideas and new stimuli for the life and thought of man and for the challenges of society, that is, generative spaces. It is nice to think that the University generates culture, generates ideas, but above all promotes the passion for the search for truth, at the service of human progress. In particular, Catholic universities, like this one, are called to “bring the decisive contribution of the leaven, salt and light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and of the living Tradition of the Church, always open to new scenarios and new proposals” (Apostolic Constitution Veritatis gaudium, 3).
I would therefore like to address a simple invitation to you: broaden the boundaries of knowledge! It is not a question of multiplying notions and theories, but of making academic and cultural education a vital space, which includes life and speaks to life.
There is a short biblical story told in the Book of Chronicles, which I would like to recall here. The protagonist is Jabez, who addresses this plea to God: "If you would bless me and enlarge my borders" (1 Chr 4:10). Jabez means "pain", and he was called that because his mother, in giving birth to him, had suffered a lot. But now Jabez does not want to remain closed in his own pain, dragging himself into lament, and prays to the Lord to "enlarge the borders" of his life, to enter a blessed, larger, more welcoming space. The opposite is closures.
Enlarging the borders and becoming an open space for man and for society is the great mission of the University.
In our context, in fact, we find ourselves faced with an ambivalent situation, in which the borders are narrow. On the one hand, we are immersed in a culture marked by the renunciation of the search for truth. We have lost the restless passion of seeking, to take refuge in the comfort of weak thought – the tragedy of weak thought! –, to take refuge in the belief that everything is the same, that one thing is as good as another, that everything is relative. On the other hand, when in university contexts and also in other areas we talk about truth, we often fall into a rationalist attitude, according to which only what we can measure, experience, touch can be considered true, as if life were reduced solely to matter and what is visible. In both cases the boundaries are narrow.
On the first side, we have the weariness of the spirit, which delivers us to permanent uncertainty and the absence of passion, as if it were useless to seek meaning in a reality that remains incomprehensible. This feeling often emerges in some characters in the works of Franz Kafka, who described the tragic and distressing condition of twentieth-century man. In a dialogue between two characters in one of his stories, we find this statement: "I believe that you do not deal with the truth only because it is too tiring" (Racconti, Milan 1990, 38). Seeking the truth is tiring, because it forces us to go out of ourselves, to take risks, to ask ourselves questions. And so, in the weariness of the spirit, a superficial life that does not ask too many questions fascinates us more; just as in the same way we are more attracted by an easy, light, comfortable "faith", which never questions anything.
On the second side, however, we have soulless rationalism, into which we risk falling again today, conditioned by the technocratic culture that leads us to this. When man is reduced to matter alone, when reality is forced within the limits of what is visible; when reason is only mathematical, when reason is “laboratory” reason, then wonder is lacking – and when wonder is lacking, one cannot think; wonder is the beginning of philosophy, it is the beginning of thought – that inner wonder that drives us to seek beyond, to look at the sky, to unearth in the hidden truth that addresses the fundamental questions is lacking: why do I live? what is the meaning of my life? what is the ultimate purpose and the final destination of this journey? Romano Guardini asked himself: «Why is man, despite all progress, so unknown to himself and becoming increasingly so? Because he has lost the key to understanding the essence of man. The law of our truth says that man recognizes himself only by starting from above, above him, from God, because he draws existence only from Him" (Prayer and Truth, Brescia 1973, 56).
Dear Professors, against the weariness of the spirit and soulless rationalism, let us also learn to pray like Jabez: "Lord, broaden our boundaries!". Let us ask that God bless our work, in the service of a culture capable of facing today's challenges. The Holy Spirit that we have received as a gift pushes us to seek, to open the spaces of our thinking and our acting, until he leads us to the whole truth (see John 16:13). We are aware - as the Rector told us at the beginning - "that we do not yet know everything", but, at the same time, it is precisely this limit that must always push you forward, help you to keep the flame of research alight and to remain an open window to today's world.
And, in this regard, I want to sincerely say: thank you! Thank you because, by expanding the borders, you have created a welcoming space for all the refugees who are forced to flee their lands, amidst a thousand uncertainties, enormous hardships and sometimes atrocious suffering. Thank you. We saw a very touching testimony a little while ago, in the video. And while some call for the strengthening of the borders, you, as a university community, have expanded the borders. Thank you. You have opened your arms to welcome these people marked by pain, to help them study and grow. Thank you.
This is what we need: a culture that expands the borders, that is not “sectarian” – and you are not sectarian, thank you! – nor does it place itself above others but, on the contrary, is in the dough of the world bringing within it a good yeast, which contributes to the good of humanity. This task, this “greatest hope”, is entrusted to you!
A theologian of this land, son and professor of this University, stated: "We are the burning bush that allows God to manifest himself" (A. Gesché, Dio per pensare. Il Cristo, Cinisello Balsamo 2003, 276). Keep the flame of this fire alive; broaden the boundaries! Be restless, please, with the restlessness of life, be seekers of truth and never extinguish passion, so as not to give in to the sloth of thought, which is a very bad disease. Be protagonists in generating a culture of inclusion, compassion, attention to the weakest and to the great challenges in the world in which we live.
And, please, do not forget to pray for me. Thank you!
MEETING WITH UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS
FULL TEXT ADDRESS OF THE HOLY FATHER, Pope Francis
“Promotiezaal” of the “Katholieke Universiteit Leuven”
Friday, 27 September 2024
___________________________
Mr. Rector, distinguished Professors,
dear brothers and sisters, good afternoon!
I am pleased to be here among you and I thank the Rector for his words of welcome, with which he recalled the history and tradition in which this University is rooted, as well as some of the main challenges of today that we all face. This is the first task of the University: to offer an integral formation so that people receive the tools necessary to interpret the present and plan the future.
Cultural education, in fact, is never an end in itself and universities must not run the risk of becoming “cathedrals in the desert”; they are, by their nature, places that propel ideas and new stimuli for the life and thought of man and for the challenges of society, that is, generative spaces. It is nice to think that the University generates culture, generates ideas, but above all promotes the passion for the search for truth, at the service of human progress. In particular, Catholic universities, like this one, are called to “bring the decisive contribution of the leaven, salt and light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and of the living Tradition of the Church, always open to new scenarios and new proposals” (Apostolic Constitution Veritatis gaudium, 3).
I would therefore like to address a simple invitation to you: broaden the boundaries of knowledge! It is not a question of multiplying notions and theories, but of making academic and cultural education a vital space, which includes life and speaks to life.
There is a short biblical story told in the Book of Chronicles, which I would like to recall here. The protagonist is Jabez, who addresses this plea to God: "If you would bless me and enlarge my borders" (1 Chr 4:10). Jabez means "pain", and he was called that because his mother, in giving birth to him, had suffered a lot. But now Jabez does not want to remain closed in his own pain, dragging himself into lament, and prays to the Lord to "enlarge the borders" of his life, to enter a blessed, larger, more welcoming space. The opposite is closures.
Enlarging the borders and becoming an open space for man and for society is the great mission of the University.
In our context, in fact, we find ourselves faced with an ambivalent situation, in which the borders are narrow. On the one hand, we are immersed in a culture marked by the renunciation of the search for truth. We have lost the restless passion of seeking, to take refuge in the comfort of weak thought – the tragedy of weak thought! –, to take refuge in the belief that everything is the same, that one thing is as good as another, that everything is relative. On the other hand, when in university contexts and also in other areas we talk about truth, we often fall into a rationalist attitude, according to which only what we can measure, experience, touch can be considered true, as if life were reduced solely to matter and what is visible. In both cases the boundaries are narrow.
On the first side, we have the weariness of the spirit, which delivers us to permanent uncertainty and the absence of passion, as if it were useless to seek meaning in a reality that remains incomprehensible. This feeling often emerges in some characters in the works of Franz Kafka, who described the tragic and distressing condition of twentieth-century man. In a dialogue between two characters in one of his stories, we find this statement: "I believe that you do not deal with the truth only because it is too tiring" (Racconti, Milan 1990, 38). Seeking the truth is tiring, because it forces us to go out of ourselves, to take risks, to ask ourselves questions. And so, in the weariness of the spirit, a superficial life that does not ask too many questions fascinates us more; just as in the same way we are more attracted by an easy, light, comfortable "faith", which never questions anything.
On the second side, however, we have soulless rationalism, into which we risk falling again today, conditioned by the technocratic culture that leads us to this. When man is reduced to matter alone, when reality is forced within the limits of what is visible; when reason is only mathematical, when reason is “laboratory” reason, then wonder is lacking – and when wonder is lacking, one cannot think; wonder is the beginning of philosophy, it is the beginning of thought – that inner wonder that drives us to seek beyond, to look at the sky, to unearth in the hidden truth that addresses the fundamental questions is lacking: why do I live? what is the meaning of my life? what is the ultimate purpose and the final destination of this journey? Romano Guardini asked himself: «Why is man, despite all progress, so unknown to himself and becoming increasingly so? Because he has lost the key to understanding the essence of man. The law of our truth says that man recognizes himself only by starting from above, above him, from God, because he draws existence only from Him" (Prayer and Truth, Brescia 1973, 56).
Dear Professors, against the weariness of the spirit and soulless rationalism, let us also learn to pray like Jabez: "Lord, broaden our boundaries!". Let us ask that God bless our work, in the service of a culture capable of facing today's challenges. The Holy Spirit that we have received as a gift pushes us to seek, to open the spaces of our thinking and our acting, until he leads us to the whole truth (see John 16:13). We are aware - as the Rector told us at the beginning - "that we do not yet know everything", but, at the same time, it is precisely this limit that must always push you forward, help you to keep the flame of research alight and to remain an open window to today's world.
And, in this regard, I want to sincerely say: thank you! Thank you because, by expanding the borders, you have created a welcoming space for all the refugees who are forced to flee their lands, amidst a thousand uncertainties, enormous hardships and sometimes atrocious suffering. Thank you. We saw a very touching testimony a little while ago, in the video. And while some call for the strengthening of the borders, you, as a university community, have expanded the borders. Thank you. You have opened your arms to welcome these people marked by pain, to help them study and grow. Thank you.
This is what we need: a culture that expands the borders, that is not “sectarian” – and you are not sectarian, thank you! – nor does it place itself above others but, on the contrary, is in the dough of the world bringing within it a good yeast, which contributes to the good of humanity. This task, this “greatest hope”, is entrusted to you!
A theologian of this land, son and professor of this University, stated: "We are the burning bush that allows God to manifest himself" (A. Gesché, Dio per pensare. Il Cristo, Cinisello Balsamo 2003, 276). Keep the flame of this fire alive; broaden the boundaries! Be restless, please, with the restlessness of life, be seekers of truth and never extinguish passion, so as not to give in to the sloth of thought, which is a very bad disease. Be protagonists in generating a culture of inclusion, compassion, attention to the weakest and to the great challenges in the world in which we live.
And, please, do not forget to pray for me. Thank you!
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