Pope urges educators to help young people encounter Christ amid merciless treatment by culture

Pope Leo XIV encouraged educators in Catholic schools and universities to help young people encounter Christ to counter a culture that constantly compares and ranks them. Addressing participants in the International Congress on School and University Pastoral Ministry on October 22, the pope said educators should offer the same trust to students that Christ offered the Twelve Apostles.

The congress, organized by the Vatican Dicastery for Culture and Education, included 1,200 participants from 60 countries. The gathering was inspired by the pope's first apostolic letter, "Charting New Maps of Hope." In that letter, the pope proposed an educational model based on three pillars: cultivating interiority, promoting the humane and rational use of digital technologies, and educating for peace.

The pope told educators to help students become builders of fraternity and a more just society. He noted that courage comes from a covenant of trust and the experience of having someone believe in a person before they believe in themselves.