Continue to nurture wisdom and humanity, says the Holy Father to Catholic Universities

Pope Francis urged Catholic universities to continue to nurture wisdom and humanity in his message during the celebration of the centennial of the International Federation of Catholic Universities (IFCU) as he welcomed delegates to the Vatican.

“One hundred years of growth and development is cause for great gratitude!” said Pope Francis.

He emphasized two aspects: “the encouragement to cooperate through ‘networking’.”

“At a time of great fragmentation, we must dare to counter the trend and to globalize hope, unity, and concord in place of indifference, polarization, and conflict,” said Pope Francis.  He noted that in the world, there are around 2,000 Catholic universities.

The second is “to be a means of fostering ‘reconciliation and the growth of peace and charity among peoples’.”

As the centenary is sadly celebrated against the backdrop of war—a third world war fought piecemeal—the Holy Father suggested that Catholic universities must “be at the forefront of efforts to build the culture of peace in all its facets, which need to be addressed in an interdisciplinary vision.”

He emphasized that education  should be animated by a greater passion, not merely a transactional enterprise dependent on perfect programs or efficient equipment, but “as evidenced in a shared search for truth, a greater horizon of meaning, lived out in a community of knowledge where the liberality of love is palpable."

He challenges Catholic universities not to replicate societal walls of inequality, dehumanization, intolerance, and indifference but to build fraternity in all spheres of their work. 

In closing his message, Pope Francis thanked the Catholic universities for their commitment.

"I ask you to help the Church, at this moment in her history, shed light on the deepest human aspirations by offering insight and understanding, as well as the 'reasons of hope' born of faith, and thus assisting the Church to engage confidently in dialogue on the great issues of our time.'"

He also invited all present to keep their gaze fixed on Our Lady, Seat of Wisdom, who brings Jesus, the Wisdom of God. - (MTV)