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Pope Leo’s greetings to the pilgrims from Oriel College, Oxford
Consistory Hall – Friday, 4 September 2026
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In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Peace be with you!
Good morning to you all, and welcome.
Pope Leo’s greeting,
Your Eminence,
Dear friends,
On your pilgrimage to Rome in the footsteps of St. John Henry Newman to commemorate the 700th anniversary of Oriel College’s royal charter grant, I am pleased to welcome the Provost and other members of the college to the Vatican.
Oriel certainly has a long and illustrious history.
Naturally, over such an extended period of time, the college has witnessed and experienced many changes, events, and even upheavals.
Yet, the college has remained firm in its Christian identity.
Your anniversary is therefore an opportunity to celebrate its Catholic origins as the “College of the Blessed Virgin Mary.”
This identity is indeed key to what has made Oriel an academic institution and a true community of faith and scholarship.
Thus, the college can look to its past contributions with confidence as a sure foundation and guide for its future endeavors.
In this regard, St. John Henry Newman is a shining example of a scholar who showed the inseparability of faith and reason not only in his works, but also in his life.
His ideas were grounded in reality because his religious convictions were rooted in his personal relationship with God, and his scholarship was both sublime and practical.
The profound depths of these two aspects of his life were recognized when he was declared a Doctor of the Universal Church and co-patron of the Church’s educational mission.
It is surely providential that your anniversary pilgrimage coincides with an event of such significance for you and the entire Catholic Church.
Moreover, in light of today’s challenges, Newman’s thoughts on education are particularly relevant.
He proposes a Christian education that considers the whole person, measuring its value according to human dignity, justice, and the ability to serve the common good
(cf. Apostolic Letter Drawing New Maps of Hope, 4.2, October 28, 2025).
Similarly, in your personal academic endeavors, I encourage you to courageously seek the truth and promote this integral anthropological vision.
As a result, your work can facilitate genuine “heart-to-heart” encounters with your brothers and sisters and, especially, with our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the way, the truth, and the life. ( John 14:6 – Jesus said: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.).
Finally, in his famous hymn, “Lead, Kindly Light,” Newman expressed his profound trust in God’s guidance despite life’s uncertainties.
I urge you to entrust yourselves and the future of the college to the unfading light of the world so that, like Our Lady, you too may reflect his glory to the world.
With these thoughts in mind, I commend each of you to the intercession of St. John Henry Newman and the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Now, please stand as I gladly impart the Apostolic Blessing to you, your families, and your loved ones.
May the blessing of the almighty God—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—come down on you and remain with you forever. Amen.
Footnote:
“The Pillar of the Cloud” by John Henry Newman
LEAD, kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom lead thou me on!
The night is dark, and I am far from home lead thou me on!
Keep thou my feet; I do not ask to see the distant scene
one step enough for me.
I was not ever thus, nor prayed that thou shouldst lead me on.
I loved to choose and see my path, but now lead Thou me on!
I loved the garish day, and, spite of fears,
Pride ruled my will: remember not past years.
So long Thy power hath blest me, sure it still will lead me on,
O’er moor and fen, o’er crag and torrent, till the night is gone;
And with the morn those angel faces smile
which I have loved long since, and lost awhile.
