This morning, in the Paul VI Hall, the Holy Father Leo XIV received in audience the participants in the Third National Meeting of Catholic Religion Teachers, on the theme: “The heart speaks to the heart”, promoted by the Italian Episcopal Conference.

The following is the Pope’s address to those present at the meeting:

Address of the Holy Father

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Peace be with you!

Dear brother bishops,

Dear brothers and sisters, good morning and welcome!

I greet you warmly and I thank you for your presence and for your valuable service that you carry out in schools. Your work is demanding, often silent and inconspicuous, but nevertheless important for the growth of many children and young people. Indeed, the religious dimension “is a constitutive element of the human experience and cannot be marginalized in the educational process of the younger generations” (Italian Episcopal Conference, Pastoral Note: The Teaching of the Catholic Faith: A Workshop of Culture and Dialogue, 11 December 2025).

Saint Augustine wrote: “Man, being a part of Your creation, desires to praise You [O Lord]. You move us to delight in praising You; for You have made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You. … Let me seek You, Lord, in calling on You, and call on You in believing in You” (Confessions, 1.1). He spoke of an inner search to which, in the human being, the great questions of life have always been linked: the relationship with God, with creation and with others; thus the thirst for the infinite, inherent in every person, can become an energy to promote peace, to renew society and to bridge its contradictions.

In this context, your service, an expression of the Church’s care for the new generations, is like a springboard from which children and young people can learn how to launch themselves into the fascinating adventure of inner dialogue, and in this way, it constitutes an indispensable element of that educational partnership which is so sorely needed today.

Furthermore, the teaching of the Catholic religion is a subject of great cultural significance, useful for understanding historical and social dynamics, as well as the expressions of thought, ingenuity and the arts that have shaped and continue to shape the face of Italy, Europe and so many countries around the world.

All this enters into your lessons, in the light of the ever-relevant teaching of the Church, in dialogue with other fields of knowledge and religious research and above all in the study of the inexhaustible pages of the Bible, from which we come to know Christ, the Son of God made man, the revelation of the Father’s face and the perfect model of humanity. In this way, you make accessible to the younger generations, with full respect for everyone’s freedom, what might otherwise remain incomprehensible and vague, showing how true secularism does not exclude the religious dimension, but rather knows how to treasure it as an educational resource. This is, moreover, part of a broader mindset that is essential for any dialogue, both in schools and in society: knowing and loving who we are, so that we may encounter others with respect and openness.

In the light of this, I would like to share with you some reflections that are close to my heart.

As the title for your third national meeting, you have chosen the expression “The heart speaks to the heart” (Cor ad cor loquitur), inspired by the motto of Saint John Henry Newman, Doctor of the Church and co-patron saint of the world of education. These words propose a journey in which truth is the goal and personal relationship the path to achieving it. They commit you, through teaching, to helping young people recognize a voice that is in fact already resonating within them, not to stifle it, nor to confuse it with the noise that surrounds them. In an age in which we live constantly besieged by stimuli of every kind, silencing that voice is all too easy. Therefore, teaching them to hear it or rediscover it is one of the greatest gifts we can give to the younger generations. Man cannot live without truth and authentic meaning, and the young, although they may at times seem apathetic or insensitive, behind a façade of apparent indifference they often actually conceal the restlessness and suffering of those who “feel too much” and too intensely, without being able to put a name to what they are experiencing.

Teaching, therefore, means forming people to listen to their hearts, and thereby to inner freedom and the capacity for critical thinking, according to dynamics in which faith and reason do not ignore one another, nor indeed oppose one another, but are travelling companions in the humble and sincere search for truth. For this reason, education requires the patience to sow without expecting immediate results, respecting the pace at which a person grows. And above all – as Newman teaches – it requires love.

Dear friends, the truth is conveyed through people, and for your students, you yourselves are those people: called to be credible teachers because you love God and your students, to pass on values without self-aggrandisement or moralizing, to offer a perspective that uplifts, and to bear witness to that humble and approachable consistency which makes even the most challenging subjects attractive and appealing. Your pupils do not need ready-made answers, but closeness and honesty from adults who stand by them with authority and responsibility as they grapple with life’s big questions. They will remember the eyes and words of those who recognized in them a unique gift, of those who took them seriously, of those who were not afraid to walk a stretch of the road with them, showing themselves in turn to be men and women who seek, think, live and believe. All this, of course, without detracting from the need for solid expertise, driven by a passion for study, cultural rigour and pedagogical preparation, because the teaching of the Catholic faith also requires continuous professional development, planning and the use of appropriate language.

Schools today – in Italy, but also elsewhere – face dramatic yet exhilarating challenges. For this reason, the Church, which walks with you, sends you forth as “servants of the world of education, choreographers of hope, tireless seekers of wisdom, credible creators of expressions of beauty” (Apostolic Letter Drawing new maps of hope, 11.3).

I thank you and encourage you to persevere in this commitment, whilst entrusting you to the intercession of the Virgin Mary and the holy educators. I remember you in my prayers and cordially impart my Apostolic Blessing, which I extend to your families, your pupils and all your loved ones. Thank you!