Pope at Gregorian University: Scholars should be ‘beggars for knowledge'

By Joseph Tulloch

Earlier this year, the Pontifical Gregorian University – a renowned Jesuit-run institution founded by St Ignatius in the 16th century – merged with the nearby Pontifical Biblical and Oriental institutes.

On Tuesday, 5th November, Pope Francis paid a visit to the newly-merged institution, and delivered a lengthy lectio magistralis to assembled faculty, staff, and students.

Pope Francis at the Gregorian University

A return to the origins

In his address, the Pope reflected on the sign that once hung on the door of a Jesuit house in the centre of 16th century Rome  – the institution that would one day become the Roman College and, later, the Gregorian University.

The sign, the Pope said, read: “School of grammar, humanities, and Christian doctrine”.

What can we learn today, the Pope asked, from this simple sign? The first lesson, he suggested, comes from the mixture of subjects the Jesuits offered, blending religious sciences with humanities. Today, he suggested, this reads as an invitation to “humanise the religious sciences, to ignite and reanimate the spark of grace in what is human.”

The second lesson, the Pope said, can be drawn from the fact that the lessons were offered for free (in Italian ‘gratis’).

It is this gratuitousness, the Pope said, that “opens us to the surprises of God … It is gratuitousness that educates without manipulating, that rejoices in growth and fosters imagination.”

Students at the Gregorian listen to the Pope's lectio

‘Beggars for knowledge’

Pope Francis also stressed the necessity of humility in Catholic education.

For too long, he said, “the sacred sciences looked down on everyone else”, with a mentality of “us vs the others” – an approach, he stressed, which led to “many mistakes.”

Now, the Pope said, is the time for teachers in the Church “to be humble, to acknowledge that we do not know everything … This is a complex world and research calls for everyone’s input.”

What is needed, the Pope urged, are universities with “less hierarchy, more tables side-by-side - everyone a beggar for knowledge, touching the wounds of history.”

Pope Francis gives his address

A broader vision

Reflecting on the recent merger of the Gregorian, the Pope said he had given his approval in the hope that it would not be a case of “mere administrative restructuring”, but rather the occasion for “a redefinition of your mission”.

In this regard, the Pope warned university staff against limiting themselves to “mergers, suspensions and closures” without a broader vision of “what is happening in the world and the Church”.

“Have you asked yourself,” the Pope questioned, “where you are going and why you are doing the things you are doing? You have to know where you’re going, and not lose sight of the horizon.”