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LETTER OF THE CARDINAL SECRETARY OF STATE
TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE “GIUSEPPE TONIOLO” INSTITUTE OF HIGHER EDUCATION
ON THE OCCASION OF THE 100th “DAY FOR THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY”
To His Most Reverend Excellency
Archbishop MARIO DELPINI of Milan
President of the “G. Toniolo” Institute of Higher Education
From the Vatican, 9 April 2024
Most Reverend Excellency,
There are places where the future seems to arrive first. One of
these is the university world, because it is where tomorrow’s
professionals are prepared and the research from which often the
most decisive innovations for the progress of the human family are
derived is developed. Today, important expectations are focused on
the future, but at the same time threatening clouds seem to be
gathering; and young people, within the academic environment,
perceive and experience this tension with particular intensity. The
theme chosen to celebrate the 100th National Day for the Catholic
University of the Sacred Heart: “Demand of the future: young
people between disenchantment and desire” is located in this
context.
From this perspective, we cannot remain prisoners of the past,
nor can we project ourselves towards tomorrow naively and hastily.
Instead, it is necessary to fuel the awareness that everything is
played out in the present, because there will be no true future if
we do not live today fully. Pope Francis has reiterated on several
occasions that one cannot address the young thinking of them only in
relation to the future, because they represent primarily the
present: “You young people must fight for your space today, because
life is living for today”, he said,
during World Youth Day in
Panama. “No one can make promises to you about a day in the future.
Your life is today. Your taking risks is today. Your space is today.
… You, dear young people, are not the future… you are the present!”
(Homily, 27 January 2019).
The urgency of offering young people the best conditions to build
the future starting from the present was perceived fully by the
founders of the Catholic University, who wished to catalyse the
attention of the entire ecclesial community around the nascent
university, obtaining from Pope Pius XI the institution of a
specific national Day. Pontiff's regard for this proposal was such
that he considered his support for the project a tribute to his own
person: “There is no doubt that in this University Day, celebrated
in all Italy, from the largest centres down to the smallest places,
with such intelligence of goodness and such generosity, we see a
second day of the Pope, so directly does it respond to one of
Our most fervent desires” (Address to Roman friends of the
Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, 1 June 1924).
A century later we can understand the reasons for such a strong
bond and the great expectations placed on the Catholic University.
The ideal and material investment was so huge that, while it was
still taking its first steps, thanks to widespread mobilization and
impressive fundraising, the University had already received – an
extraordinary fact – civil recognition from Victor Emanuel III (cf.
Royal Decree of 2 October 1924, no. 1661). Now that “the Catholic”
is among the country’s most important and prestigious universities
and assumes an ever more relevant role also at international level,
we can see how fruitful and farsighted was the intuition of the
founders, especially Fr. Agostino Gemelli and Blessed Armida
Barelli, supported with great determination by the Supreme Pontiff.
Gemelli’s vision of the future was so wide-ranging that, while he
was forming the Milanese institute, he initiated a capillary network
to give rise to an international network of Catholic universities.
Indeed, the establishment of the International Federation of
Catholic Universities (IFCU) is due primarily to him. The Holy
Father, receiving the association on the occasion of its centenary
celebrations, reiterated how valuable the work had been, and how
relevant its contribution is to the mission of the Church today.
Indeed, after recalling the potential of the approximately two
thousand Catholic universities spread around the world, also in
terms of promoting peace and integral development, he emphasized the
unique character of its formative project: “A greater passion must
animate the university, as evidenced in a shared search for truth, a
greater horizon of meaning, lived out in a community of knowledge
where the liberality of love is palpable” (Address to the IFCU,
19 January 2024).
This year marks another important anniversary for the world of
youth and universities. Precisely 14 April marks forty years since
the first great gathering of young people who, organized in the
context of the Holy Year of Redemption, became the seed from which
the World Youth Days blossomed. On that occasion, Saint John Paul II
consigned the cross to the young people, with the mission of taking
it into the world as a sign that there is salvation in Jesus, who
died and rose again. In this regard, Pope Francis recently reminded
young people that “only in this way, in the light of His presence,
will your memory of the past prove fruitful, will you find courage
in the present and be prepared to face the future with hope … and to
be in turn the leaders of tomorrow, ‘artisans’ of the future” (Message
to young people for the fifth anniversary of the Apostolic
Exhortation Christus vivit, 25 March 2024).
The link between World Youth Day and university pastoral care
gradually became closer, up to the event in Lisbon last year, when
the Holy Father devoted a specific meeting to the university world,
outlining a sort of “manifesto” for the mission of Catholic
universities in our time. Precisely because young people cannot be
robbed of their future, he invited them to invest with great courage
in the present in order to respond to the healthy restlessness that
dwells in their minds and in their hearts: “We are called to
something higher, and we will never be able to soar unless we first
take flight. We should not be alarmed, then, if we sense an inner
thirst, a restless, unfulfilled longing for meaning and a future, com
saudade do futuro!” (Address to the Portuguese University, 3
August 2023).
In encouraging us to ardently embrace this outburst of goodness,
similar to a confident and silent sowing in the present, which
allows for the abundance of tomorrow's harvest, Pope Francis,
sharing Pius XI's affection and hope for the University and
appreciating its presence, commitment and development, renews His
closeness and His paternal accompaniment, and heartily imparts a
special Apostolic Blessing to Your Excellency, the Rector
Magnificent, the General Ecclesiastical Assistant, the members of
the Toniolo Institute, the distinguished Professors, the
technical-administrative staff and all the students, asking to be
remembered in prayer.
Adding my cordial good wishes and heartfelt congratulations for
the prestigious goals achieved, I avail myself of the circumstance
to express my sincerest regards to your Most Reverend Excellency,
Devoted in the Lord
Pietro Cardinal Parolin
Secretary of State
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Holy See Press Office Bulletin,
14 April 2024 |
