Pope: present overshadowed by injustice, let us give hope
The Pope declared St John Henry Newman a Doctor of the Universal Church
The school is called to restore hope to a world that seems to have lost it. This is what Pope Leo said. "It is the task of education to offer this 'Gentile Light'," the Pope emphasised, re-launching the words of St John Henry Newman, "to those who might otherwise remain imprisoned by the particularly insidious shadows of pessimism and fear. This is why I would like to say to you: let us disarm the false reasons of resignation and impotence, and let us circulate in the contemporary world the great reasons of hope. Let us contemplate and point out constellations that transmit light and orientation in this present obscured by so many injustices and uncertainties".
"Therefore," the Pope concluded, "I encourage you to make schools, universities and all educational realities, including informal and street education, as the thresholds of a civilisation of dialogue and peace".
The Pope, beware of the economy that excludes and kills
"Life is enlightened not because we are rich or beautiful or powerful. It is enlightened when one discovers within oneself this truth: I am called by God, I have a vocation, I have a mission, my life serves something greater than myself! Every single creature has a role to play," the Pope said in his homily, addressing a message to educators in particular: "At the centre of educational pathways must be not abstract individuals, but people in flesh and blood, especially those who seem not to yield, according to the parameters of an economy that excludes and kills. We are called to form people, so that they may shine like stars in their full dignity." "May our schools and universities always be places for listening to and practising the Gospel!" added Leo XIV.
Pope proclaims St Newman a 'Doctor of the Church'
The Pope has declared St John Henry Newman a Doctor of the Universal Church. "We, accepting the desire of many Brothers in the Episcopate and of many faithful throughout the world, having received the opinion of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, after long reflection and having reached a full and certain conviction, with the fullness of apostolic authority declare St John Henry Newman a Doctor of the Universal Church," said Leo XIV proclaiming the formula in Latin during Mass in St Peter's Square.
