In his address to students gathered in the Paul VI Audience Hall for the Jubilee of the World of Education, Pope Leo XIV invited young people to look higher—beyond their screens, beyond fleeting pleasures, and toward the divine purpose for which they were created.
According to Vatican News, the Holy Father urged the crowd, “Have the courage to live life to the fullest.” Drawing inspiration from the newly canonized Italian student Pier Giorgio Frassati, he encouraged youth to “long for something greater” and to live as what he called the “generation plus,” remembered “for the extra drive you brought to the Church and the world.”
Education: “One of the Most Beautiful and Powerful Tools”
The Pope reminded the students that such greatness cannot remain a dream. “The answer,” he explained, “is through education, one of the most beautiful and powerful tools for changing the world.”
Education, he said, must form both the mind and the heart, and it is not the task of teachers alone. Each student is called to be “a protagonist.” Recalling Pope Francis’s Global Compact on Education launched in 2020, Pope Leo called for “a new season of education” rooted in fraternity, truth, and the pursuit of peace.
He quoted St. John Henry Newman: “Knowledge grows when it is shared, and it is through the conversation of minds that the flame of truth is kindled,” according to Vatican News.
The Catholic Online School Mission
That same vision is already alive in Catholic Online School—a free, global, faith-based educational mission serving over 1.5 million students in 193 countries. Like Pope Leo’s call for “educational constellations that guide the path forward,” Catholic Online School connects learners around the world to the timeless truths of the Gospel through lessons that blend technology with faith, intellect with virtue.
Through free access to thousands of courses, video lessons, and catechetical materials, Catholic Online School embodies what the Pope described as “a new season of education,” where learning becomes a light for the nations. It helps students “look to the heights,” not just at screens, using digital tools to evangelize rather than to distract.
Look to the Stars, Not Your Screens
Pope Leo reminded his audience that education is a journey upward: “Education encourages us to look toward the sky, upward and higher.” Rather than “looking down at our phones,” he challenged students to lift their eyes—to the heavens, to their calling, to Christ.
“Without silence, without listening, without prayer, even the light of the stars goes out,” he warned, pointing to the spiritual poverty of a world focused only on “the technical, social or moral aspects of life” while forgetting the soul.
The Digital Frontier and Human Dignity
In his reflection on technology, the Pope addressed the reality that defines the modern student’s world. “We live in a digital world,” he said, “yet we should not let technology write our story nor use us.”
Artificial intelligence may be “intelligent,” he added, but humanity must “learn to humanize the digital, building it as a space of fraternity and creativity—not an addiction or an escape.”
Catholic Online School responds to this same call by creating a digital space that uplifts rather than distracts—using innovation to form hearts and inspire holiness, following the example of St. Carlo Acutis, whom the Pope named as “an example of holiness in the age of technology.”
Education for Peace
Finally, the Pope turned to the core of the Global Compact on Education: peace. “We have the power to change the future that is threatened by war and hatred,” he said. “The answer is an education for peace that is disarmed and disarming.”
This kind of education, he continued, “must disarm hearts, renouncing all violence and vulgarity.” It builds equality and respect for every person, recognizing the dignity of all.
To the Heights
In closing, Pope Leo XIV invited every student to become a peacemaker and witness of truth: “Look higher still, toward Jesus Christ, the Sun of Righteousness, who will always guide you along the paths of life.”
In a world where so many look down, Catholic Online School helps millions look up—to the heavens, to hope, and to the heights where true education begins and faith leads.
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