‘Drawing New Maps of Hope’: in his apostolic letter published on 28 October 2025, Leo XIV outlines the mission of Catholic schools in today’s ‘complex, fragmented and digitalised’ educational environment.
Sixty years after Gravissimum educationis, the Second Vatican Council’s declaration on education, Pope Leo XIV updates its message in light of the challenges of the digital world and a more complex environment.
In an apostolic letter published during the week of the jubilee for educators, the Pope outlines the mission of Catholic schools in today’s society and confronts them with their responsibilities at a time of crisis for humanity.
His message is clear, direct and formal. The Holy Father reaffirms the considerations put forward by his predecessors.
The declaration Gravisimum Educationis is still a compass that ‘continues to point the way’ and to speak of the beauty of the journey or educational adventure.
It supports the seven priorities identified by Pope Francis in the Global Educational Pact and adds three more:
- the development of young people’s inner lives;
- the ‘wise’ use of technology and artificial intelligence, ‘putting the person before the algorithm’;
- and the promotion of a ‘disarmed and disarming’ peace.
Education is an act of hope
The Holy Father affirms that ‘education is an act of hope’, ‘the highest expression of Christian charity’, it is a ‘collective work’, a ‘choreography’ that places the learner at the heart of the educational act.
Education is like a ‘profession of promises’. ‘We promise time, trust, competence; we promise justice and mercy, we promise the courage of truth and the balm of consolation’.
– Education is a ‘collective endeavour’; no one can educate alone. The educational community is a ‘we’ that allows all actors to converge their efforts to generate life. The community must accompany each person in rediscovering the meaning of life, their inalienable dignity, and their responsibility towards the world. This is a process that must never cease to ‘embrace the whole person’ and promote ‘respect, personalised support, discernment and the development of all dimensions’, including the spiritual dimension.
– Education ‘cannot be measured by its effectiveness’. The cornerstone of Catholic pedagogy must be an integral anthropological vision. Christian formation must embrace ‘the whole person: spiritual, intellectual, emotional, social and physical’. Following in the footsteps of John Henry Newman, Leo XIV rejects a ‘purely mercantilist’ approach, believing that the value of education is measured by ‘dignity, justice and the ability to serve the common good’. Education is ‘a learning of virtues’
To the ‘educational constellation’, the Holy Father addresses himself directly to Catholic religious educational institutions, which he refers to as a “constellation”, advising them to set aside ‘rivalries’ and to collaborate. He also calls for dialogue with civil society and political and administrative authorities. ‘In the Church, pedagogy is never a disembodied theory, but flesh, passion and history.’
The Pope does not forget to confirm the essential role of the family, ‘which remains the primary place of education,’ and calls for an alliance between structures.
‘Avoid technophobia’, the Pope warns us that our attitude towards technology can never be hostile. ‘The decisive point is not technology, but the use we make of it,’ adds the head of the Catholic Church, advocating ethical guidance and discernment in ‘the choice of platforms, data protection and equitable access’. In any case, for the Pope, no algorithm can replace what makes human education ‘poetry, humour, love, art, imagination,’ but also ‘education in error as an opportunity for growth.’
Leo XIV concludes his letter by inviting the educational community to disarm words, lift up their gaze and watch over their hearts so that we may be more ‘symphony in the Spirit’. So be it!
suor Mirna Farah
