This morning, in the Vatican Apostolic Palace, the Holy Father Leo XIV received in audience the participants in the OEI – Holy See Meeting “Maps of Hope for a Regional Educational agenda: Mental Health, Digital Technologies and Education”, organized in the Vatican from 29 to 20 May 2026 by the Dicastery for Culture and Education, the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, and the Organization of Ibero-American States for Education, Science and Culture.

The following is the address delivered by the Pope to those present during the course of the meeting:

Address of the Holy Father

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Peace be with you.

Good morning everyone, and welcome!

Mr Secretary-General of the Organization of Ibero-American States,
Your Eminence, Your Excellencies,
Ministers, distinguished officials,
dear friends:

I am pleased to be able to join you for this dialogue dedicated to one of the most urgent and crucial challenges of our time: the relationship between education, mental health and digital technologies.

I wish to express my gratitude to the Organization of Ibero-American States, the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, the Dicastery for Culture and Education, and to all those who have made this initiative possible, born of a shared desire to build together authentic “maps of hope”.

This meeting takes place with a particular focus on the Ibero-American region, which I hold deeply in my heart: a land of extraordinary spiritual and human resources. We find an eloquent image of this wisdom, for example, in handcrafted textiles, which, with their many threads and vivid colours, teach us that no single thread is sufficient on its own to create the design. Only patient weaving generates beauty and strength. Each thread retains its own colour, yet acquires meaning within a broader fabric.

Education, too, is called today to rediscover itself in this way: not as the construction of isolated individualisms, nor as the mere transmission of skills, but as the art of weaving communion.

Ancient peoples looked up to the sky to read the constellations. In them they sought guidance; they learnt to recognize the rhythm of the seasons, the time for sowing and the time for harvesting. The stars were observed not only out of abstract curiosity, but also because they helped to understand the right moment to act, preserving the harmony between man, nature and time.

Today we need to lift our eyes once again (cf. Jn 4:35). In the Apostolic Letter Drawing New Maps of Hope, I called for the creation of a global educational constellation, in which every institution, every culture and every people can offer their unique contribution to illuminating the path of humanity. Every culture finds meaning in observing the constellations. Every culture is called to collaborate in charting a common course, deepening the awareness of belonging to a single human family.

Awareness of this great cultural heritage can help us to address one of the greatest forms of poverty of our time: the loss of inner constellations. Many young people possess increasingly sophisticated technological devices, yet they struggle to find a meaning for living, hoping, loving and even suffering. Behind so many difficulties, loneliness and psychological fragility often lies a silent question: “Does my life have any meaning? Is there a reliable hope for the future?”

In the aforementioned Apostolic Letter, I recalled that we are a desire, not an algorithm (cf. Drawing New Maps of Hope, 4.1). When human beings are reduced to performance, consumption or a statistical figure, profound inner suffering inevitably arises. Many young people today live under the yoke of expectations and performance, immersed in a frenzied competitiveness that generates anxiety, fear of not being good enough, and disorientation.

For this reason, we cannot approach the issue of mental health solely as a clinical or technical matter. Undoubtedly, the contributions of science, psychology, medicine and the neurosciences are indispensable. But we also believe that human beings can live authentically — and overcome so many inner frailties — within a horizon of meaning. When this horizon darkens, inner emptiness, isolation and despair increase. When, on the other hand, a person discovers that their life has value, that they are loved, awaited and called to a task in the world, then hope is born. And hope is not a naive illusion: it is a spiritual force that sustains life, even in the most difficult moments.

That is why I wanted to include, amongst the objectives of the Global Education Compact, the goal of cultivating inner life. Indeed, it is not enough to connect young people to digital networks if they then remain disconnected from themselves, from others and from their own inner selves. Cultivating the inner life means helping the younger generations to rediscover silence, reflection, the ability to ask questions, the depth of relationships and openness to the transcendent. To listen to the soul, one must sharpen one’s hearing, for its voice is not a shout, but a whisper (cf. 1 Kings 19:9–16).

Technology connects us, but education shapes us. To educate means accompanying young people in discovering not only how to live, but also why to live. In this educational mission, public institutions, schools, universities, families, religious communities, the world of culture and the world of communication are called to work together. No one can face such profound and complex challenges alone.

I therefore wish to encourage you to strengthen this network of cooperation that you are building amongst yourselves and with the Holy See. In this era of digital transition, we are called to be a light for many people, especially young people, who are seeking reliable points of reference and maps capable of guiding them on the path of life.

We need visions capable of building new cultural syntheses, which have the courage to bring together thought and life, contemplation and action, care for the poor and the search for meaning, whilst safeguarding the profoundly human heritage of education.

May the Virgin Mary, the model of an educator, inspire us on this journey and guide our efforts to instil confidence in the younger generations, so that they may commit themselves to building a more just and fraternal world.