Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - “I am happy to be here at "my" University, because this is the Bishop of Rome’s own University. I am aware that here you seek the truth and so, in ultimate analysis, you search for Christ, since He is Truth in person”: these were the first words pronounced by the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI in the square in front of the doors of the Pontifical Lateran University which he visited on Saturday 21 October to inaugurate the new academic year. “The world needs the truth. Without truth there can be no freedom, we are completely in the original idea of the Creator” the Pope said before entering the building. After visiting the University Chapel and blessing the new Library, the Pope went to the Aula Magna where, in the presence of cardinals, bishops, civil authorities, teachers and students, he was welcomed by University’s Grand Chancellor Card. Camillo Ruini and Rector Bishop Rino Fisichella.
“I am especially happy to share with you the inauguration of the new academic year” the Holy Father said at the beginning of his address. “I recall with pleasure my last visit to the Lateran and, as if time had stood still, I wish to return to the theme of reflection at that time, as if we had only interrupted it for a few moments” Pope Benedict XVI continued . “An academic context like this calls in a very special way to return once again to the theme of the crisis of culture and identity put before our eyes in recent decades not without drama”.
The Pope underlined that a university is “one of the most qualified places in which to find opportune ways to overcome this situation”, since here “are preserved the riches of tradition which lasts through the centuries…tradition which illustrates the fecundity of truth when accepted in its authenticity with simple and open mind”, here too “are formed the new generations which await a serious, demanding proposal, which answers in new contexts the perennial question for the meaning of one’s life”.
Today people tend to forget “that all science must always safeguard the human person and promote tension towards the authentic good - the Holy Father continued -. Giving way to the joy of discovery without safeguarding the criteria which come from a more profound vision would easily lead us to fall into the drama described in ancient myth: young Icaro, engrossed in the joy of flying to absolute freedom and totally ignoring the warnings of his aged father Dedalo, flies ever closer to the sun, forgetting that the wings which lift him to the sky are made of wax. His terrible fall and death are the price he pays for his illusion. This ancient tale has a lesson of lasting value. In life there are other illusions upon which we cannot rely, without risking disastrous consequences for our life and the lives of others.”
The task of the university teacher is “not only to investigate the truth and encourage perennial wonder for it, but also to promote knowledge of it from every angle and to defend it from reductive and distorted interpretations”. To learn the real essence of things is a task to which the University must be committed “with study and research in a spirit of patient perseverance. This toiling however helps us enter progressively into the heart of matters and opens to passion for the truth and joy of finding it”. The Pope indicated silence and contemplation as “the indispensable scenario in which to set questions prompted by the mind”. “God is the ultimate truth to which all reason naturally tends, encouraged by the desire to complete the assigned course to the end - Pope Benedict XVI concluded -. God is not empty word or abstract hypothesis, on the contrary, God is the foundation on which to build our life”. (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 23/10/2006, righe 43, parole 644)
