“Constellations of hope”

Jubilee of the Educational World

From October 27 to November 1, 2025, Rome hosted the Jubilee of the Educational World. During this week, a group of teachers from our schools in the Province of Europe together with the Sponsorship Team and a group of Claretian missionaries, were invited to cross the Holy Door and participate in the many initiatives prepared by the Dicastery for Culture and Education.

We were not alone, thousands of pilgrims from all over the world filled the streets of the “eternal city”. In a bustling Rome, full of students, teachers, educators, parents and people who support the educational world, we were invited to reflect on the role of Catholic education, and to renew ourselves spiritually.

The educational presence of the Catholic Church is an expression of a generative and passionate faith in humanity. The Catholic school “is alive”: 231,568 schools and 1,160 Catholic universities and colleges worldwide. With a presence of 71,887,803 million students.

We were invited to be protagonists of our own history and form “Educational Constellations” to share experiences, relaunch their mission and spread a call to education to create a new culture of development, fraternity and peace”, all supported by the Global Compact on Education. 

If there is one word that resonated, these days, it has been HOPE. But a hope that does not walk alone but goes hand in hand with four other aspects, which for Christian education are inseparable: interiority, unity, love and joy, as Pope Leo XIV reminded us in his message to educators. Only from here can we grow and enrich each other.

During these days, the “Education Village” was also held, a symphonic space where, using different languages, different experiences have been presented. On October 30, the World Congress “Educational Constellations – A Pact with the Future”  was held in the Conciliation Auditorium: in which we were invited to reflect on the challenges of education, from the universal right to quality education to the new cultural and technological frontiers.

There was also space for prayer, spiritual search with the School of the Heart, where a plurality of spiritualities, cultures and art were shared. And two other proposals in the Sistine Hall of Santo Spirito in Sassia and in the San Pio X Hall invited us to an immersive artistic and cultural tour on the meaning of education and an encounter with educational experiences from all over the world.

Our beloved Pope Leo XIV presided over four meetings: on Monday, October 27, in St. Peter’s Basilica, he celebrated the beginning of the academic year with Roman universities and pontifical institutions; on Thursday, October 30, in the Paul VI Hall of the Vatican, he met with students; on Friday, October 31, he met with students.  in St. Peter’s Square, he met with educators; and on November 1, also in St. Peter’s Square, the culmination of these days was reached, with the celebration of the Eucharist for the entire world of education, with a very important event, the appointment of St. John Henry Newman Doctor of the Church.

Many messages have been received, but I am left with this one: “Sharing knowledge is not enough to teach, it takes love. Only in this way will knowledge be beneficial to those who receive it, in themselves and, above all, through the charity it communicates” (Pope Leo XIV).

To each of you, educators of our schools and to each Claretian missionary Sister, we invite you to read and deepen the messages of Pope Leo XIV of these days. They are not to be missed! And they are a source of inspiration for our educational task.

Thanks to each of you who have participated, it has been a beautiful experience of “family” and of walking together.