Pope Leo’s address to the International Congress organized
by the Pontifical Gregorian University
Clementine Hall – Friday, 23 October 2026
In the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Peace be with you.
Pope Leo’s address,
Your Eminences, Your Excellencies,
Brothers and Sisters,
On the occasion of the International Congress celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Faculty of Canon Law of the Pontifical Gregorian University, I am pleased to extend my greetings to you.
On August 16, 1876, the Congregation for Studies established your faculty at the request of Blessed Pius IX.
This fulfilled the long tradition of studying and teaching canon law that had accompanied the history of the Roman College and the Society of Jesus.
Today, we celebrate the 150th anniversary, a significant milestone in a history that began centuries ago.
Thanks to this history, the teaching of canon law has developed its own scientific tradition through the contributions of numerous distinguished teachers who have brought prestige to the faculty and advanced canonical science.
These individuals are part of an unbroken chain that connects generations and continues to provide valuable scientific and ecclesiastical contributions.
Like the university in which it is located, this faculty is an apostolic work of the Society of Jesus.
Therefore, it participates in the spirituality that stems from the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola. This spirituality is characterized by the idea expressed in the phrase: ‘Non multa, sed multum.”
In other words, it is better to understand a few things deeply: rather than to know many things superficially.
As St. Ignatius wrote, “It is not a great deal of knowledge that nourishes and satisfies the soul, but rather the interior feeling and savoring of things.
“Therefore, it is not surprising that this spiritual approach aligns with how your faculty teaches church law.
The purpose is not only to understand the appropriate norms for regulating ecclesial life and to educate individuals with an ecclesial sense of ‘iustum’.
This sense is acquired through the careful study of sources, canonical tradition, and theological principles that illuminate the norm.
This is possible when studying canon law in light of the mystery of the Church, as illustrated by the Second Vatican Council in the Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium.
Although St. John Paul II wrote in the apostolic constitution Sacrae Disciplinae Leges (January 25, 1983) that “it is impossible to translate perfectly into ‘canonical’ language the image of the Church,” canon law must nevertheless reflect this image.
It plays a vital role in safeguarding ecclesial communion and is therefore “extremely necessary for the Church.”
Its purpose is “to establish an order in ecclesial society that prioritizes love, grace, and charism and facilitating their organic development.”
The well-being of individuals and the ecclesial community are inextricably linked.
For this reason, the program of studies at your faculty reads: “The law of the Church must always aim at the supernatural good of the individual faithful and at the building up of ecclesial communion.”
I urge you to work faithfully toward this goal:
the supernatural good of individuals, which is achieved by pursuing true justice.
In the Church, justice is never separated from truth and mercy.
St. Augustine expresses this idea in a phrase dear to the Christian tradition: “Ordo dilectionis est iustitia.”
I would also like to emphasize a characteristic of your identity that is found in the Statutes: the faculty recognizes its special role in serving the Petrine mission.
In teaching, this faculty remains faithful to the Magisterium of the Church, prioritizing the service its professors provide to the Apostolic See.
I encourage you to provide your students with a firsthand experience of the universal Church, which finds in the Bishop of Rome the perpetual and visible principle and foundation of unity. (cf. Lumen Gentium, n. 23).
Students from many parts of the world come to Rome to study at the university. These students include clerics, consecrated persons, and laypeople.
They must be able to experience the universality of the Church through their university life.
When they return to their home churches, they should carry this experience with them as a treasure to share with their communities.
Dear friends,
After 150 years, your faculty can look to the future with trust in God and in the great heritage you have received.
Following in the footsteps of those who came before you, you will continue to bear the fruits of doctrine, science, and holiness that the Lord and the Church expect of you.
May you be accompanied on this journey.
May it be by the intercession of Mary Most Holy, Speculum Justitiae.
May it also be by my Apostolic Blessing.