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Pope Leo’s address to the members of the Pope Leo XIV International Study Center
Consistory Hall – Friday, 18 September 2026
The Leo XIV International Study Center promotes scientific research, social and political education, interdisciplinary dialogue, and international academic cooperation, inspired by the Church’s Social Doctrine and the teaching of Pope Leo XIV.
In the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Spirit, Santo
Peace be with you!
Good morning everyone and welcome!
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I am pleased to meet you and accompany you on your first steps with the Augustinian Order’s initiative to establish an international study center in my name.
I am particularly grateful for this because reflection and critical thinking are important for building a civilization of love.
The Social Doctrine of the Church has much to offer in this regard.
From the beginning, I have appreciated the Center’s commitment to fostering dialogue with universities, academic institutions, public bodies, civil society organizations, ecclesial entities, and associative networks.
This commitment promotes collaboration and discussion at the national and international levels.
One example of this is the Center’s collaboration with the Theological Faculty of Central Italy and the Pontifical Patristic Institute Augustinianum, which is also mentioned in the Center’s founding decree.
The key is to walk together, always, and to never preclude encountering those who are different and who think, speak, or act differently.
The choice of Florence as the seat of this new reality is evocative.
It is an invitation to be inspired by the values of humanism, which is open to the Creator and, for this reason, fosters fraternal relationships.
Civilization is produced not by wars, but by the weaving of peace and just balances, with the active participation of all the social and cultural components of an open society..
“The Church’s social doctrine has a popular foundation that should not be overlooked.
It would be impossible to interpret Christian revelation in modern social, economic, cultural, and working circumstances without the efforts of lay Christians addressing the challenges of their time.
Religious men and women were at their side, witnesses of a Church that is moving beyond the paths already traveled.
The changing times we are facing today make it even more necessary for the baptized to interact with one another, with the Magisterium, with citizens, and with experts and institutions.” (Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, n. Dilexi te, 82).
May your study centre encourage this exercise, which requires pioneers and facilitators, especially in the face of distrust and resignation.
At the risk of going against the tide, your mission of hope is to promote a conception of public and political life as a service to the common good, a sense of responsibility towards the community, and the development of relationships based on solidarity, justice, and peace in Italy and around the world. In other words, the opposite of resignation!
As Pope Francis emphasized in his speech in Florence:
“There is no authentic humanism that does not contemplate love as a bond between human beings, whether interpersonal, intimate, social, political, or intellectual”
(Address to the Fifth National Convention of the Italian Church, November 10, 2015).
In this sense, the Augustinian tradition underlying your initiative has much to offer today’s global community in terms of understanding love as a principle for renewing personal, economic, and political life.
Love binds to liberate, unites to generate, and commits to build.
Dear friends,
“We look at history in the light of the Crucified and Risen One.
We do not interpret the present as a predetermined fate, but rather as an open field for personal and collective transformation.
We believe in the power of the Kingdom, which grows from the smallness of a mustard seed.
As the prophet says, ‘Behold, I am doing a new thing: it is sprouting now, do you not perceive it?’
(Isaiah 43:19).” (Encyclical Letter n. Magnificent Humanity, 210).
Be experts in God’s newness.
Do not be dazzled by speed and efficiency.
Instead, be those who work silently, freeing the old world from its blind alleys and inaugurating paths on which to advance together towards his city.
May the Lord reward your commitment with abundant fruits.
May you be accompanied by the apostolic blessing that I cordially impart to all of you.
Thank you.
