At midday today, a press conference was held at the Holy See Press Office, Via della Conciliazione 54, to present the Jubilee of the World of Education, to take place from 27 October to 1 November 2025.

The speakers were: His Eminence Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, prefect of the Dicastery for Culture and Education; His Eminence Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson, chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences; Monsignor Carlo Maria Polvani, secretary of the Dicastery for Culture and Education; Professor Elena Beccalli, rector of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, president of the European Federation of Catholic Universities (EFCU); and Fr. Ezio Lorenzo Bono, representative for the Global Educational Compact.

The following is the intervention by His Eminence Cardinal Tolentino de Mendonça:

Intervention of His Eminence Cardinal Tolentino de Mendonça

I wish to greet everyone present here, starting with those who welcome us today: the Vatican Press Office, in the person of the Deputy Director, the entire team of the Dicastery for Communication, and all the journalists, in person or working remotely, whose work is so precious in the contemporary world, building bridges and public spaces for hope. I greet His Eminence Cardinal Turkson, who has shown us the interesting programme that the Academy of Sciences will develop in the context of the Jubilee of Knowledge. I greet those who will speak with me to present the Jubilee of the World of Education: His Excellency Monsignor Carlo Maria Polvani; Professor Elena Beccalli, rector of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart and President of the European Federation of Catholic Universities, and Father Ezio Bono of the Dicastery for Culture and Education, responsible for the Global Compact on Education, which the Holy Father Leo XIV wishes to relaunch.

The Jubilee of the World of Education, to be held from 27 October to 1 November 2025, will bring more than twenty-thousand people together in Rome, representing Catholic educational communities all over the world, engaged in schools and universities, in technical and professional formation, and who are students, teachers and administrative staff, as well as representatives of the main educational federations and networks, or international organizations in the sector. To date, pilgrims have registered from 124 countries, with particular attention to Italy, Spain, the United States, France and Brazil. It is also a cause for joy to know that over 200 pilgrims with disabilities will participate, testimony to the fact that the Jubilee is open to all.

The programme of initiatives planned by the Dicastery for Culture and Education will be presented by the next speaker. I would like to focus just on some key elements:

The first is the sixtieth anniversary of the Conciliar Declaration Gravissimum Educationis, which we will celebrate on 28 October. It is a fundamental document, with a strong impact on the contemporary view of education, which has played a fundamental role, within and outside the Church, and must be recognized. I emphasize in particular the affirmation of the universal right to education and a change of language (and hence mindset) in speaking of the school not in terms of “institution”, but rather as an “educational community”.

The Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, has sent a message to join in the celebrations of the sixtieth anniversary of Gravissimum Educationis, affirming that:

“The Conciliar Declaration constitutes a point of reference that must be highlighted and remembered, considering the recognition of the universal right to education, which implies the mobilization of educators – parents, families, communities and civil society – and the role of the school as a centre of learning and solidarity. The highly positive nature of this document therefore merits special attention, especially in a time in which the culture of peace must be promoted actively in society and in the international community”.

And next Tuesday, 28 October, a document by Pope Leo XIV will be published, to commemorate the sixtieth anniversary of Gravissimum Educationis, and to reflect on the current relevance of the Conciliar Declaration and on the challenges that education has to face today, in particular for Catholic schools and universities. Indeed, as Pope Leo writes in the Document:

“The Declaration Gravissimum Educationis has not lost its bite. Since its reception, a constellation of works and charisms has been born... a spiritual and pedagogical heritage capable of traversing the twenty-first century and responding to the most pressing challenges. This heritage is not set in stone: it is a compass that continues to point the way. Expectations today are no less than those the Church faced sixty years ago. On the contrary, they have expanded and become more complex... history challenges us with new urgency. Rapid and profound changes expose children, adolescents and young people to unprecedented fragility. It is not enough to preserve: we need to relaunch. I ask all educational institutions to inaugurate a season that speaks to the hearts of the new generations, recomposing knowledge and meaning, competence and responsibility, faith and life”.

We can therefore affirm that the Declaration Gravissimum Educationis will provide the backdrop to the celebration of the Jubilee of Education, and that the Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, will dedicate particular pastoral attention to the world of education in these historical days: through the publication of this document, in his addresses to students and educators during the planned audiences, and in the opening and closing homilies of this Jubilee.

In addition, Pope Leo XIV will take advantage of the Jubilee of Education to relaunch the Global Compact on Education, an initiative of Pope Franics which has acquired extraordinary resonance in many regions of the world. It is true that the Church celebrates and is grateful for a fruitful educational history, but is also facing the need to update her offerings in the light of the Rerum novarum of our time. Father Ezio Bono will intervene on this highly important renewal of the Global Compact on Education.

And, finally, the Holy Father has decided to associate the Jubilee of Education with the figure of an extraordinary educator and great inspirer of the philosophy of education: Saint John Henry Newman. We know that he will be declared a Doctor of the Church in the celebration on 1 November, the closing Holy Mass of the Jubilee of the World of Education. But that is not all. In the document he will publish next Tuesday, Pope Leo XIV affirms that, in the context of this Jubilee, he will have the great joy of naming Saint John Henry Newman co-patron of the educational mission of the Church, together with Saint Thomas Aquinas.

As you can see, these are important, I would say historical days for Catholic education, and it is the desire of the Holy Father to inaugurate a new season that involves educational institutions with a new spirit and new plans, asking them to become true maps of hope in today's world.

Education is the new name for peace and places hope on the map of the present and the future.

Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça