Pope Leo and the Apostolic Letter (@Vatican Media)
Pope: Educate to promote dignity, justice, and trust in a
war-torn world
The Apostolic Letter "Drawing New Maps of Hope",
released on 28 October, marks the sixtieth anniversary of the conciliar
declaration "Gravissimum Educationis". In it, Pope Leo XIV reaffirms
and expands that document’s vision, applying it to the challenges of the
present time.
Vatican News
Reflecting on the millions of children who still lack access
to basic education, and on the educational crises caused by war, migration,
inequality, and poverty, the Pope asks how Christian education can respond
today. In his Apostolic Letter Drawing New Maps of Hope, signed on
27 October 2025 and released to mark the 60th anniversary of the Concliar
declaration Gravissimum Educationis, he notes that the
insights of Gravissimum Educationis remain relevant in today’s
fragmented and digitalised environment, continuing to inspire educational
communities to build bridges and to offer civic and professional formation with
creativity. This direction, first traced by the Second Vatican Council, has
generated a rich array of works and charisms that remain a spiritual and
pedagogical treasure for the Church.
Educational charisms
as living responses
The Letter emphasises that educational charisms are not
fixed formulas but living responses to the needs of each age. Recalling the
teaching of Saint Augustine on the true educator as one who awakens the desire
for truth and freedom, the Pope surveys the tradition that spans from monastic
communities to the mendicant orders and to the Ratio Studiorum,
where scholastic thought met Ignatian spirituality.
He recalls the contributions of educators such as Saint
Joseph Calasanz, Saint John Baptist de La Salle, Saint Marcellin Champagnat,
and Saint John Bosco, each of whom advanced distinctive educational methods
serving the poor and marginalised. He also highlights the pioneering witness of
women religious and laywomen—including Vicenta María López y Vicuña, Frances
Cabrini, Josephine Bakhita, Maria Montessori, Katharine Drexel, and Elizabeth
Ann Seton—who expanded access to education for girls, migrants, and the
disadvantaged.
Education as a shared
mission
Pope Leo XIV underlines that education is always a
collective effort in which teachers, students, families, administrators,
pastors, and civil society all participate. He recalls the thought of Saint
John Henry Newman—now named co-patron of the educational world alongside Saint
Thomas Aquinas—as a model of intellectual rigour united with deep humanity.
The Pope encourages renewal in educational environments
through empathy and openness, insisting that education must form the whole
person, integrating knowledge with the heart and the capacity for discernment.
Catholic schools and universities are to be places where inquiry is guided and
supported, not suppressed. Teaching, he adds, is to be understood as a vocation
of service that offers time, trust, competence, and compassion, joining justice
with mercy.
The human person at
the centre
The Letter reaffirms Paul VI’s warning against reducing
education to functional training or economic productivity. Education, Pope Leo
XIV writes, must serve human dignity and the common good. A person cannot be
confined to a set of measurable skills or to a predictable digital profile, but
must be recognised as a unique individual with a face, a story, and a calling.
Restoring trust amid
conflict
Without indulging nostalgia, the Pope situates his
reflection firmly in the present. Using the image of fixed stars to describe
the principles guiding education, he stresses that truth is discovered in
communion, that freedom implies responsibility, and that authority must be
exercised as service.
He calls Catholic education to rebuild trust in a world
marked by fear and division, cultivating a sense of shared belonging that
fosters fraternity among peoples and nations.
The interweaving of
faith, culture, and life
Recalling his years of service in the diocese of Chiclayo in
Peru, Pope Leo XIV reflects on education as a gradual journey of growth, built
through dedication and perseverance. He presents Catholic schools as
communities where faith, culture, and life are harmoniously united.
Technical updates alone, he writes, are not sufficient to
meet contemporary challenges; what is needed is discernment and coherence of
vision. The educator’s witness, both intellectual and spiritual, is as
important as classroom instruction. For this reason, the formation of
teachers—academic, pedagogical, cultural, and spiritual—is described as
essential to the mission of Catholic education.
The family as the
primary educator
The Pope reaffirms that the family remains the first and
fundamental place of education. Other institutions can assist but never replace
it. Collaboration among families, schools, and the wider community is
essential, based on listening, shared responsibility, and mutual trust.
In an interconnected world, formation too must be
interconnected. The Pope encourages greater cooperation between parish and
diocesan schools, universities, professional institutes, movements, and digital
and pastoral initiatives. Differences in methods or structures, he notes,
should be viewed as resources rather than obstacles, contributing to a coherent
and fruitful whole. The future, he says, demands growth in collaboration and
unity of purpose.
Linking social and
environmental justice
Integral education, the Letter insists, unites every
dimension of the person and treats faith not as an additional subject but as
the breath that gives life to all learning. In this way, Catholic education
becomes a seedbed for an integral humanism that can respond to the urgent
questions of our age.
The Pope situates this within a world wounded by conflict
and violence. Education for peace, he explains, is not passive but active: it
rejects aggression, teaches reconciliation, and cultivates a language of mercy
and justice. He connects this mission with the need to link social and
environmental justice, reminding readers that when the earth suffers, the poor
suffer most. Education, therefore, must form consciences capable of choosing
what is right, not merely what is advantageous, and of promoting sustainable
and simple lifestyles.
Technology at the
service of humanity
Drawing again on the teaching of Vatican II, Pope Leo XIV
cautions against subjugating education to market logic or financial interests.
He calls for the responsible use of technology, which should enrich learning
rather than weaken relationships or community life.
He warns against purely technical efficiency that lacks
soul, and against standardised knowledge that impoverishes the human spirit. No
digital system, he observes, can replace the human capacities that make
education fully alive—imagination, art, creativity, empathy, and even the
willingness to learn through error. Artificial intelligence and digital
environments, he adds, must be guided by ethical reflection and a concern for
human dignity, justice, and the value of work.
Toward a culture of
encounter
Building on the legacy of Pope Francis and the Global
Compact on Education, Pope Leo XIV identifies three current priorities: the
cultivation of interior life, which responds to young people’s search for
depth; the formation of a humane digital culture that places the person before
the algorithm; and the education of new generations in the ways of peace,
dialogue, and reconciliation.
He calls for a new educational culture marked by cooperation
rather than rivalry, and by shared discernment rather than rigid hierarchy.
A symphony of the
Spirit
In conclusion, the Letter invites educators to use language
that heals, to keep an open and discerning heart, and to face today’s
challenges with courage and generosity. The Pope acknowledges the real
difficulties of the present: fragmented attention caused by
hyper-digitalisation, fragile relationships, social insecurity, and inequality.
Against these threats, he calls for a spirit of inclusivity
and evangelical gratuity that expresses itself in concrete acts of justice and
solidarity. When education loses sight of the poor, he warns, it loses its very
soul.
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