Cardinal Parolin tells university students their commitment counts

By Deborah Castellano Lubov

The commitment of university students at this moment is capable of creating a better future.

This was at the heart of a letter sent by Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, to the President of the "Giuseppe Toniolo" Institute of Higher Studies of Italy's prestigious Università Cattolica, Archbishop Mario Delpini of Milan.

The message was sent for the occasion of the University's '100th Day' that fell Sunday, 14 April, on which the academic institution became 'one hundred years old.' According to its website, the Day was dedicated to exploring the new generations' "demand for the future," which implies "a searching for meaning" and "an opening of dialogue."

In his letter, the Cardinal observes there are places where the future seems to arrive earlier.

"One of these is the university world," Cardinal Parolin highlighted, "because it is in it that tomorrow's professionals are prepared and the research from which often the most decisive innovations for the progress of the human family derive is developed."

Pope Francis' encouragement

Earlier in the day, Pope Francis had offered the University a special greeting during his Regina Caeli address.

He offered his personal encouragement for the University to continue "its important formative service, in fidelity to its mission" while always dedicating attention to today's young people and new societal challenges.

Cardinal Parolin recognized the challenges for young people in academic environments.

Commitment in present makes the difference

"Today, " he wrote, "important expectations are focused on the future, but at the same time threatening clouds seem to be gathering," which "young people, within the academic environment," he acknowledged, "perceive and experience this tension with particular intensity."

In such a horizon, he underscored, "one cannot remain prisoners of the past, nor can one project oneself in a naive and hasty manner into tomorrow."

"Instead," the Vatican Secretary of State clarified, "it is necessary to nurture the awareness that everything is played out in the present, because there will be no real future if today is not lived to the full."

Cardinal Parolin recalled that it was precisely "the urgency of offering young people the best conditions to build the future starting from the present" that animated the founders of the Catholic University.

He also recalled in the letter the 40th anniversary of the first massive gathering of young people at St. Peter's on 14 April 1984 with Pope St. John Paul II. Here, he observed, the 'seed' for World Youth Days blossomed, noting how, in these 40 years, the link between World Youth Days, and the pastoral care of universities has grown closer and closer.

Meaningful response to healthy restlessness

The Cardinal went on to recall how Pope Francis during the World Youth Day in Lisbon in August of last year, dedicated a specific meeting to the university world, in which he "outlined a sort of 'manifesto' of the mission of Catholic universities in our time."

With this in mind, Cardinal Parolin underscored,  that "precisely because the future cannot be stolen from young people, Pope Francis invited them to invest with great courage in the present to respond to the healthy restlessness, that dwells in their minds and hearts."