Category: Diocese of Scranton News

ROME (CNS) – As Christians visit cemeteries on the feast of All Souls and remember their loved ones who have died, they do so with faith that at the end of this life they will be together again with the Lord, Pope Leo XIV said.

The pope celebrated Mass Nov. 2, the feast of All Souls, at Rome’s largest cemetery, Verano, which covers more than 200 acres.

“The Lord awaits us, and when we finally meet him at the end of our earthly journey, we shall rejoice with him and with our loved ones who have gone before us,” the pope told about 2,000 people who had gathered on a road among the tombs for the Mass.

“May this promise sustain us, dry our tears and raise our gaze upward toward the hope for the future that never fades,” he said.

Arriving at the cemetery, he set a bouquet of white roses on one of the tombs, and at the end of the Mass he blessed the graves with holy water before leading the traditional prayer, “Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them.”

The pope began his homily by speaking about the loved ones buried at Verano, telling the congregation that “we continue to carry them with us in our hearts, and their memory remains always alive within us amid our daily lives”

“Often,” he said, “something brings them to mind, and we recall experiences we once shared with them. Many places, even the fragrance of our homes, speak to us of those we have loved and who have gone before us, vividly maintaining their memory for us.”

For those who believe that Jesus conquered death, the pope said, “it is not so much about looking back, but instead looking forward toward the goal of our journey, toward the safe harbor that God has promised us, toward the unending feast that awaits us.”

“There, around the Risen Lord and our loved ones, we hope to savor the joy of the eternal banquet,” he said.

Belief in eternal life, the pope said, “is not an illusion for soothing the pain of our separation from loved ones, nor is it mere human optimism. Instead, it is the hope founded on the Resurrection of Jesus who has conquered death and opened for us the path to the fullness of life.”

Earlier in the day, the pope led the recitation of the Angelus prayer with thousands of visitors gathered in St. Peter’s Square.

He told them he would be going to the cemetery to celebrate Mass for all the faithful departed.

“In spirit, I will visit the graves of my loved ones” — his mother died in 1990 and his father in 1997 — “and I will also pray for those who have no one to remember them. But our heavenly Father knows and loves each of us, and he forgets no one!”

Citing Pope Benedict XVI’s encyclical on hope, Pope Leo said that “eternal life” can be thought of not as “a succession of time without end, but being so immersed in an ocean of infinite love that time, before and after no longer exist.”

Such a “fullness of life and joy in Christ is what we hope for and await with all our being,” Pope Leo said.

Praying for the dead, he said, is not just about remembering a loss, but it is a sign of belief that in the death and resurrection of Jesus, no one will be lost.

Pope Leo prayed, “May the familiar voice of Jesus reach us, and reach everyone, because it is the only one that comes from the future. May he call us by name, prepare a place for us, free us from that sense of helplessness that tempts us to give up on life.”

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The lives of St. John Henry Newman and of all the saints teach Christians that “it is possible to live passionately amidst the complexity of the present without neglecting the apostolic mandate to ‘shine like stars in the world,'” Pope Leo XIV said.

Celebrating Mass Nov. 1, the feast of All Saints, Pope Leo concluded the Jubilee of the World of Education and proclaimed St. Newman the 38th doctor of the church, including him among the men and women of the Christian East and West who have made decisive contributions to theology and spirituality.

Earlier in the week, Pope Leo had officially recognized St. Newman as co-patron of education along with St. Thomas Aquinas.

St. Newman was born in London Feb. 21, 1801, was ordained an Anglican priest in 1825, became Catholic in 1845 and was made a cardinal in 1879 by Pope Leo XIII. He died in 1890.

Leading members of the Anglican Church of England and the British government attended the Mass where he was declared a doctor of the church. The Anglican delegation was led by Archbishop Stephen Cottrell of York, currently the top-ranking prelate of the Church of England. The government delegation was led by David Lammy, deputy prime minister of the United Kingdom and secretary of state for justice.

Greeting Archbishop Cottrell publicly at the end of Mass, Pope Leo prayed that St. Newman would “accompany the journey of Christians toward full unity.”

The banner used during St. Newman’s canonization Mass in 2019 hung from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica during the Mass and his relics were placed on a table near the altar.

While St. Newman’s theology, philosophy and thoughts about university education were cited in the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints’ presentation at the Mass, Pope Leo chose to quote in his homily from the British saint’s poem, “Lead, Kindly Light,” now a popular hymn.

“In that beautiful prayer” of St. Newman’s, the pope said, “we come to realize that we are far from home, our feet are unsteady, we cannot interpret clearly the way ahead. Yet none of this impedes us, since we have found our guide” in Jesus.

“Lead, Kindly Light, amid th’encircling gloom, Lead Thou me on,” the pope quoted in English while reading his homily in Italian.

Speaking to the teachers, professors and other educators gathered for the Mass in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Leo said, “The task of education is precisely to offer this Kindly Light to those who might otherwise remain imprisoned by the particularly insidious shadows of pessimism and fear.”

The pope asked the educators to “reflect upon and point out to others those ‘constellations’ that transmit light and guidance at this present time, which is darkened by so much injustice and uncertainty.”

He also encouraged them “to ensure that schools, universities and every educational context, even those that are informal or street-based, are always gateways to a civilization of dialogue and peace.”

Another quote from St. Newman — “God has created me to do Him some definite service; He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another” — expresses “the mystery of the dignity of every human person, and also the variety of gifts distributed by God,” the pope said.

Catholic educators, he said, have an obligation not only to transmit information but also to help their students discover how much God loves them and how he has a plan for their lives.

“Life shines brightly not because we are rich, beautiful or powerful,” the pope said. “Instead, it shines when we discover within ourselves the truth that we are called by God, have a vocation, have a mission, that our lives serve something greater than ourselves.”

“Every single creature has a role to play,” he said. “The contribution that each person can make is uniquely valuable, and the task of educational communities is to encourage and cherish that contribution.”

“At the heart of the educational journey,” Pope Leo said, “we do not find abstract individuals but real people, especially those who seem to be underperforming according to the parameters of economies that exclude or even kill them. We are called to form people, so that they may shine like stars in their full dignity.”

Lammy, the British government official, told Catholic News Service that he had had the “great honor and privilege” to meet Pope Leo before the Mass.

As a member of the Anglo-Catholic tradition within the Church of England, he said he believes “John Henry Newman really encapsulates the deep connections between our countries and between the Christian communities, across the Christian community.”

The proclamation was “a moment of unity and reflection,” Lammy said. “It’s not just a religious honor, but a powerful moment of cohesion that shows how engaging in our differences can also unite us.”

St. Newman’s legacy, he said, “reminds us that Britain’s religious story is broader than one tradition. It’s been enriched by Catholic thought, courage and contribution.”

In addition, the deputy prime minister said, “I think his life and his writings show how belief and reason together can guide moral leadership, diplomacy, compassion, and I think in an age of polarization, Newman’s insistence on moral reflection calls us back to what truly matters, which is leadership in the cause of what is right and just, which is a principle that should shape our politics.”

(OSV News) – It seems unusual that our church liturgical calendar schedules two major celebrations on days that are back-to-back. But that is precisely the situation
with the solemnity of All Saints, a liturgical feast, and the Commemoration of the Faithful Departed (All Souls), a liturgical observance.

All Saints is a churchwide holy day of obligation and normally celebrated on Nov. 1. If the first day of November falls on a Saturday or Monday, at least in the United States, the obligation to attend Mass is abrogated. All Souls’ Day takes place on Nov. 2, unless it falls on a Sunday, then the celebration is held Nov. 3.

During these early November celebrations, those of us still living (the “church militant”) unite our hearts with, and in a special way remember, the faithful departed, whether they be in heaven (“church triumphant”) or in purgatory (“church suffering”).

All Saints’ Day, which began most likely as All Martyrs’ Day, can be traced to the earliest Christians. By the third century, the followers of Christ were annually honoring their brothers and sisters who had given their lives (martyred) while witnessing for and defending Jesus Christ. Typically, on the anniversary of a martyr’s death, those living would gather to remember and offer prayers at the tomb or place where the deceased had died.

Tombs were sometimes decorated and altars built over the tomb. According to church historian Henry Chadwick, “From the third century the anniversary of a martyr’s death, called his ‘birthday,’ was commemorated at his grave by a celebration.” The belief among the first Christians, which continues today, is that believers who died defending Christ were borne by angels to heaven and are face-to-face with the living God, in the presence of the beatific vision.

In those first centuries, especially during the savage reign of the Roman Emperor Diocletian (r. 284-305), there were more and more Christians who accepted death at the hands of the Romans rather than deny Christ, rather than worship false gods or the personage of the emperor.

Additionally, others who had publicly confessed their Christian faith (confessors) and somehow survived the Romans were also honored. Thus the number of martyrs and confessors became greater than the opportunities to give each one an anniversary
celebration, and the need for a common feast day was recognized.

By the fifth century there is evidence of locations, such as in Antioch, where the fledgling church had set aside the first Sunday following Pentecost to collectively honor these holy and courageous people.

In 609, during the reign of Pope Boniface IV (608-615), the Eastern Emperor Phocas (r. 602-610) gifted a temple in Rome to the Holy See. The temple, still standing today and still known as the Pantheon, was originally built in the first century. Destroyed by fire and rebuilt between 118 and 128, it was a public place to worship and honor all the Roman gods and goddesses — a spectacular monument to pagan Rome.

Pope Boniface accepted this temple, removed all the pagan embellishments, all the statues of false gods and, according to legend, relocated and buried the remains of hundreds of Christian martyrs beneath the Pantheon. The pope then consecrated the Pantheon as a Christian church to the Blessed Mother and all the Holy Martyrs (Sanctae Mariae and Martyrs). The consecration took place on May 13, and that was the annual date of the feast of All Martyrs for the next 125 years.

On Nov. 1, 735, Pope Gregory III (731-741) dedicated an oratory in St. Peter’s Basilica to house the relics of the apostles, martyrs, saints and confessors. Thereafter, Nov. 1 became, at least for the churches in Rome, the feast of All Saints, and the May 13 date was suppressed. Other countries and cities began to celebrate the feast on the same day as the Rome churches, and soon a vigil of All Saints was added. Eventually, Pope Gregory IV (827-844) assigned Nov. 1 as the date of the feast of All Saints throughout the Latin Church and proclaimed it a holy day of obligation.

In the 15th century, octave days were added by Pope Sixtus IV (1471-1484) and the octaves of All Saints were part of the church calendar until suppressed in 1954. In sum, there is ample historical evidence that Christians have annually, on some date or another, been acknowledging the collective lives of all martyrs and saints for over 1,200 years.

Today, All Saints’ Day is a solemnity and holy day of obligation on which the universal church honors the martyrs, the saints and the confessors, including all known and unknown, all who have gained the reward of heaven.

Offering prayers for those who have died is ancient in origin. In the Old Testament’s Second Book of Maccabees, written around 100 B.C., Judas Maccabeus orders his army to pray and offer sacrifices on behalf of their fallen comrades. Tombs found in the Roman catacombs are inscribed with prayer requests for the deceased.

The second-century writer Tertullian wrote in an essay, “Monogamy,” about a woman praying for her deceased spouse: “Indeed she prays for his soul and asks that he may, while waiting, find rest; and that he may share in the first resurrection. And each year, on the anniversary of his death, she offers the sacrifice.”

The Commemoration of the Faithful Departed, or All Souls’ Day, evolved onto the church calendar long after All Saints’ Day. Sometime between 998 and 1030, St. Odilo, the abbot at the Benedictine monastery in Cluny, France, encouraged all the monks to pray for the souls of those who had died, those awaiting the joys of heaven. He instituted this commemoration on the day after All Saints’ Day, and soon other religious orders and churches began, on that same date, to annually remember all who had died.

Remembering and praying for the faithful departed is tied directly to our belief in purgatory. On All Souls’ Day the universal church prays for all those in purgatory, people who were much like us, whose offense may have been less than ours. By pleading for them, we are inspired to lead purer lives.

On that day, and during the entire month of November, we remember our departed brethren as we go to the cemetery where they are buried, attain indulgences for them, give alms, do some good work, ask for Masses to be said in remembrance, all on behalf of those close to us and to others we may have neglected during the year.

We also light candles, and in some parishes the faithful display pictures of their deceased loved ones in the church. Church bells are sometimes rung to remind everyone to pray for the poor souls in purgatory. Priests are authorized to say three Masses on this holy, somber day.

SCRANTON – Catholic Social Services of the Diocese of Scranton is preparing for an increase in visitors in the coming weeks as the possibility looms for funding of federal SNAP benefits is set to expire at the end of October.

SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, is a federally-funded program that helps millions of eligible, low-income households and individuals purchase nutritious and healthy food at participating grocery stores and farmers markets.

Even before the program is set to run out of funds, demand for assistance from Catholic Social Services’ food pantries has been rising.

For example, in Carbondale, the CSS Food Pantry located at 34 River Street, has served 90 new families in the months of August and September alone.

There are numerous ways the community can help make sure no one goes hungry locally. Catholic Social Services is seeking both cash donations and non-perishable food items. Our food pantries are particularly looking for the following items which help local families and are often among the most requested things:

Peanut Butter

Jelly

Pasta

Pasta Sauce

Canned Veggies

Condensed Soup

Cereal (low or no sugar)

Pancake Mix

Mac & Cheese

Applesauce

Bottled Juice

Rice

Granola/Fruit Bars

Tuna

Canned Pasta

Canned Chicken

Boxed Mashed Potatoes

Donations can be dropped off at any of the food pantries listed above during normal business hours.

Monetary donations can also be made online by clicking this link.

WASHINGTON (OSV News) – As Hurricane Melissa continued its devastating course through the Caribbean, Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, urged Catholics to pray for and support the people and communities impacted by one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record.

In the Caribbean region, “families face severe risk of flooding, landslides, displacement, and infrastructure damage with little resources to respond” due to the strongest storm the planet has seen this year, the archbishop said in a statement released late Oct. 29. “Our brothers and sisters in small island nations like Jamaica, Cuba, and Haiti are the most vulnerable to the impact of such strong storms, often intensified by a warming climate.”

Melissa has left dozens dead and caused widespread destruction across Jamaica, Cuba and Haiti. With winds ranging from 175-185 mph, it made landfall in southwestern Jamaica near New Hope around 1 p.m. ET Oct. 28 before heading toward Cuba, where it made landfall early in the morning Oct. 29 as a Category 3 storm.

“After lashing Cuba,” Melissa set “its sights” on the Bahamas and Bermuda, The Weather Channel reported.

“The Church accompanies, through prayer and action, all people who are suffering,” said Archbishop Broglio, head of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services. “I urge Catholics and all people of good will to join me in praying for the safety and protection of everyone, especially first responders, in these devastated areas.”

“Let us stand in solidarity,” he added, “by supporting the efforts of organizations already on the ground such as Caritas Haiti, Caritas Cuba, and Caritas Antilles, as well as Catholic Relief Services, who are supplying essential, direct services and accompaniment to those in need.”

Catholic Relief Services, the U.S. Catholic Church’s overseas relief and development agency, is accepting donations for hurricane relief via its website: https://www.crs.org/donate/hurricane-melissa.

At the Vatican after his main address at the general audience early Oct. 29, Pope Leo XIV assured storm victims of his “closeness” and his prayers.

“Thousands of people have been displaced, while homes, infrastructure and several hospitals have been damaged,” he said. “I assure everyone of my closeness, praying for those who have lost their lives, for those who are fleeing and for those populations who, awaiting the storm’s developments, are experiencing hours of anxiety and concern.”

“I encourage the civil authorities to do everything possible and I thank the Christian communities, together with voluntary organizations, for the relief they are providing,” the pope added.

WASHINGTON (OSV News) – The president of the U.S. bishops’ conference has urged lawmakers to fund federal food assistance before a looming deadline risks disrupting benefits for more than 40 million people.

The Trump administration said benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, would not be issued starting on Nov. 1 if the federal government shutdown remains in effect.

About 42 million Americans rely on SNAP. Data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture showed that in fiscal year 2023, 79% of SNAP recipient households included either a child, an elderly individual or a nonelderly individual with a disability.

Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said in a statement released late Oct. 28 the group is “deeply alarmed that essential programs that support the common good, such as SNAP, may be interrupted.”

“This would be catastrophic for families and individuals who rely on SNAP to put food on the table and places the burdens of this shutdown most heavily on the poor and vulnerable of our nation, who are the least able to move forward,” said the prelate, who heads the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services. “This consequence is unjust and unacceptable.”

On its website, the USDA posted a notice that said, “Bottom line, the well has run dry. At this time, there will be no benefits issued November 01.” The message blamed Senate Democrats for the ongoing stalemate.

Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins told Fox News Oct. 28 that the department “does not have the $9.2 billion that it would require” to fund the program.

“Unless Democrats vote to END their shutdown, food stamp recipients will not receive their benefits beginning on Saturday,” the White House’s rapid response social media account said.

In a post on X, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. said, “Millions of hungry families are about to lose SNAP benefits to buy food.”

“There are $5 billion in emergency funds that could be used right now to ensure parents and kids don’t go hungry when SNAP runs out this Saturday,” he said. “But Donald Trump has ordered them not to use this funding.”

A coalition of 25 states and the District of Columbia states sued the Trump administration in an attempt to keep the program running.

In his statement, Archbishop Broglio added, “The U.S. bishops have consistently advocated for public policies that support those in need.”

“I urgently plead with lawmakers and the Administration to work in a bipartisan way to ensure that these lifesaving programs are funded, and to pass a government funding bill to end the government shutdown as quickly as possible,” he said.

(OSV News) – A landmark Catholic document, credited with igniting a revolution in Catholic-Jewish relations over the decades, has turned 60.

“Nostra Aetate” (“In Our Time”) was promulgated Oct. 28, 1965, by Pope St. Paul VI as part of the Second Vatican Council.

The text was the Catholic Church’s first formal denunciation of “hatred, persecutions, displays of anti-Semitism, directed against Jews at any time and by anyone,” while affirming the “spiritual patrimony common to Christians and Jews.”

That language marked a seismic shift from centuries of what French historian Jules Isaac had called a “teaching of contempt” toward the Jewish community by Catholic and other Christian theologians.

In 1947, Isaac, a renowned Jewish academic whose wife and daughter were murdered at the Auschwitz Nazi death camp in Poland, published “Jésus et Israël,” the first full analysis of Christian anti-Judaism. Later that year, Isaac also helped to develop the International Council of Christians and Jews’ “Ten Points of Seelisburg,” which stressed Christianity’s need to recover a historically and theologically accurate understanding of Judaism.

Scholars have documented a brief but pivotal June 13, 1960, meeting between Isaac and Pope St. John XXIII as the major catalyst behind “Nostra Aetate.” Soon after, the Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity — led by Jesuit Cardinal Augustin Bea — was specifically tasked with addressing Catholic-Jewish relations, a project that ultimately led to Vatican II’s “Nostra Aetate.”

Pope Leo XIV referenced “Nostra Aetate,” which set forth the Catholic Church’s relation to non-Christian religions, in an Oct. 28 interfaith prayer service closing the “International Meeting for Peace: Religions and Cultures in Dialogue” in Rome.

Stressing the need for dialogue and friendship, Pope Leo noted the gathering took place on the 60th anniversary of “Nostra Aetate,” and referenced the text directly, saying, “We cannot truly pray to God as Father of all if we treat any people as other than sisters and brothers, for all are created in God’s image.”

The same day, the Vatican’s Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue and the Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews organized an event called “Walking Together in Hope” at the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall to celebrate the document’s 60th anniversary and reaffirm calls for peace and dialogue. Among those attending the event were religious leaders from various faiths, scholars, members of the Roman Curia (the Vatican’s administration), diplomats accredited to the Holy See, and advocates for interreligious dialogue.

Pope Leo, who addressed the attendees and led a silent prayer for peace, was also scheduled to dedicate his Oct. 29 general audience to “Nostra Aetate” and interreligious dialogue.

In December 2024, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the American Jewish Committee jointly released “Translate Hate: The Catholic Edition,” a resource that confronts antisemitism by cataloging anti-Jewish slurs, while providing Catholic teaching that counters such hatred.

The 61-page glossary of antisemitic terms and commentary, available in pdf format on the AJC’s website, builds on the AJC’s “Translate Hate” initiative, which was first released in 2019.

The document uses the working definition of antisemitism adopted in 2016 by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, or IHRA. That summation states that “antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”

On Oct. 6, the Anti-Defamation League published a report finding that more than half (55%) of Jewish Americans reported experiencing some form of antisemitism during the previous year, with 79% of survey respondents expressing concern about antisemitism.

Almost one in five (18%) were the victim of an assault, or experienced a threat of physical attack or actual verbal harassment due to their Jewish identity in the past year. More than one third (36%) witnessed actual or threatened violence.

Speaking to OSV News several months ahead of the “Nostra Aetate” anniversary, AJC director of interreligious affairs Rabbi Noam Marans– who in September delivered a keynote at Georgetown University celebrating the occasion —said the document had jumpstarted “a process in which Catholic teaching about Jews and Judaism would be transformed from enmity to amity.”

Released just two decades after the end of the Holocaust (which is called “the Shoah” in the Hebrew) “Nostra Aetate” clearly stated “Jews are not collectively responsible for the death of Jesus,” and “are not to be portrayed as accursed,” said Rabbi Marans.

In addition, he noted, the text introduced “new ideas about the eternity of God’s covenant with the Jewish people,” while locating “the roots of Christianity … in Judaism.”

Rabbi Marans said “Nostra Aetate” is not the end of the church’s transformative relationship with the Jewish people, but “the beginning of an evolution that is ongoing.”

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Catholic education, which has changed over the centuries, must continue to evolve to help young people face the challenges not only of technology but of confusion about the meaning and purpose of life, Pope Leo XIV said.

“I call upon all educational institutions to inaugurate a new season that speaks to the hearts of the younger generations, reuniting knowledge and meaning, competence and responsibility, faith and life,” he wrote in an apostolic letter.

Titled “Disegnare Nuove Mappe Di Speranza” (“Drawing New Maps of Hope”), the letter was issued only in Italian Oct. 28. It marked the 60th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council’s Declaration on Catholic Education.

In the letter, Pope Leo formally declared St. John Henry Newman “patron of the church’s educational mission alongside St. Thomas Aquinas.”

The pope was scheduled to formally proclaim St. Newman a “doctor of the church” Nov. 1 in recognition of his contribution to “the renewal of theology and to the understanding of the development of Christian doctrine.” He was born in London Feb. 21, 1801, was ordained an Anglican priest, became Catholic in 1845, was made a cardinal in 1879 by Pope Leo XIII and died in 1890.

Even in the face of the digital revolution and the advent of artificial intelligence, Pope Leo said, Catholic schools and universities show “a surprising resilience.”

When they are “guided by the word of Christ, they do not retreat but press forward; they do not raise walls but build bridges. They respond creatively, opening new possibilities for the transmission of knowledge and meaning,” he wrote.

Pope Leo asked Catholic educators and educational institutions to focus on “three priorities”:

— “The first regards the interior life: Young people seek depth; they need spaces of silence, discernment and dialogue with their consciences and with God.

— “The second concerns a humane digital culture: We must educate in the wise use of technology and AI, placing the person before the algorithm, and harmonizing technical, emotional, social, spiritual and ecological forms of intelligence.

— “The third concerns peace — unarmed and disarming: Let us educate in nonviolent language, reconciliation and bridge-building rather than wall-building; may ‘Blessed are the peacemakers’ — (Mt 5:9) — become both the method and the content of learning.”

At the same time, the pope said, it is obvious that Catholic schools cannot ignore technology or avoid it, but they must be discerning about digital platforms, data protection and fair access for all students.

“In any case,” he said, “no algorithm can replace what makes education truly human: poetry, irony, love, art, imagination, the joy of discovery” and even learning from mistakes “as an opportunity for growth.”

In the letter, the pope briefly traced the history of Catholic education from the “desert fathers” teaching with parables, to the monastic study and preservation of classic texts and scholasticism’s highly structured and interdisciplinary curriculum.

But he also noted the huge array of Catholic saints throughout the ages who insisted that learning to read and write and add and subtract were matters of human dignity and so dedicated their lives and their religious orders to educating women and girls, the poor, migrants and refugees and others on the margins of society.

“Wherever access to education remains a privilege,” Pope Leo wrote, “the church must push open doors and invent new pathways because to ‘lose the poor’ is to lose the very meaning of the school.”

“To educate is an act of hope,” he said.

Catholic schools and universities, the pope wrote, must be “places where questions are not silenced and doubt is not banned but accompanied. The ‘heart speaks to heart,'” he said, quoting St. Newman’s motto as a cardinal.

Parents, as the Second Vatican Council affirmed, are the first and primary educators of their children, the pope said, but “Christian education is a choral work: no one educates alone.”

Those who teach in a Catholic institution, he said, “are called to a responsibility that goes beyond the employment contract: their witness is worth as much as their lesson.”

And while the human person is at the center of all educational initiatives, the goal is to help that person learn to see beyond him- or herself and “discover the meaning of life, inalienable dignity and responsibility toward others,” he wrote.

“Education is not merely the transmission of content but an apprenticeship in virtue,” Pope Leo said. “It forms citizens capable of serving and believers capable of bearing witness — men and women who are freer, not more isolated.”

The pope also called on Catholic schools and universities to be models of social and “environmental justice,” promoting simplicity and sustainable lifestyles and helping students recognize their responsibility for caring for the earth.

“Every small gesture — avoiding waste, making responsible choices, defending the common good — is an act of cultural and moral literacy,” he wrote.