Pope Leo XIV Urges Educators to Teach Through Interiority, Unity, Love, and Hope
Standing before fifteen thousand teachers and students gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the Jubilee of the World of Education, Pope Leo XIV shared a message that was both deeply spiritual and profoundly human. Drawing from his own experience as an educator within Augustinian institutions, he reflected on what makes teaching meaningful and transformative. He reminded the crowd that true education cannot be reduced to technology, facilities, or academic performance but must begin with an encounter between hearts.
The Pope built his message around four cornerstones he described as the foundation of Christian education interiority, unity, love, and joy. These virtues, he explained, were central to the teachings of Saint Thomas Aquinas and continue to guide the mission of Catholic education today. “Beautiful words and well-equipped classrooms are not enough,” he said. “The true teacher is within.” His words echoed Saint Augustine’s teaching that knowledge is not merely transferred but awakened through a deep personal connection.
Pope Leo urged educators to help students look inward, to rediscover their own inner life amid the noise of digital distractions and the pressures of a world dominated by screens. He reminded them that teachers, too, must resist losing this sense of interior awareness, especially when overwhelmed by bureaucracy and exhaustion. Quoting Saint John Henry Newman’s phrase cor ad cor loquitur, “heart speaks to heart,” he said that teaching succeeds only when it reaches the soul.
He went on to emphasize unity as the bond that holds educators and learners together. Referring to his pontifical motto In Illo uno unum est “In the One, we are one” the Pope said that unity in Christ allows both teacher and student to grow through shared learning. True education, he explained, is a journey of companionship in which both continue to seek the truth together.
Speaking on love, he called it the essence of teaching, declaring that instruction without love is empty. Teachers, he said, build communities of compassion, and their dedication shapes society far beyond the classroom. On joy, he described it as the natural fruit of love, a light that shines in the soul of both teacher and student. “True teachers teach with a smile,” he said. “Their joy awakens joy in others.”
Pope Leo closed his address with a reflection on the dangers of artificial intelligence in education, warning that a purely technical approach can isolate students and drain meaning from learning. Education, he said, must remain deeply human, driven by empathy and shared discovery. In his vision, the classroom is not merely a place of instruction but a sacred space where hearts meet, hope is kindled, and knowledge becomes love in action.
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