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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Young people must take control of technology and "humanize" online spaces to be friendly, creative places -- not isolated echo chambers, forms of addiction or ways to escape, Pope Leo XIV said.

"Instead of being tourists on the web, be prophets in the digital world!" he told thousands of students gathered in the Paul VI Audience Hall Oct. 30.

"How wonderful it would be if one day your generation were remembered as the 'generation plus,'" he told the mostly Gen-Z crowd to applause, "remembered for the extra drive you brought to the church and the world."

The pope's meeting with students, including seminarians, was part of the Oct. 27-Nov. 1 Jubilee of the World of Education. The week of jubilee events included a papal Mass and audiences with educators as well as students and staff at Rome's pontifical universities.

Pope Leo shook hands and chatted with the excited throngs of students lined up behind wooden barricades outside the audience hall and in the hall's large atrium before the start of the meeting. 

"I have been looking forward to this moment with great excitement," he said in his address on stage, because it "reminds me of the years when I taught mathematics to lively young people like you." The U.S. pope earned a degree in mathematics at Villanova University in Pennsylvania in 1977 and was a substitute and summer school teacher for math and physics at St. Rita High School in the Ashburn neighborhood of Chicago in the 1980s. 

Education, he said, is "one of the most beautiful and powerful tools for changing the world."

But it requires everyone, including students, to form alliances and work together, he said, highlighting the importance of the Global Compact on Education, launched by Pope Francis in 2019.

The compact represents "an alliance of all those who, in various ways, work in the field of education and culture, to engage younger generations in universal fraternity," Pope Leo said.

Students "are not just recipients of education, but its protagonists," he said.

"You are called to be truth-speakers and peacemakers, people who stand by their word and are builders of peace," he told the students. "Involve your peers in the search for truth and the cultivation of peace, expressing these two passions with your lives, your words and your daily actions."

Among the new challenges that require a joint commitment in the global compact is digital education, the pope said.

"There are enormous opportunities for study and communication" in the digital world, he said. "But, do not let the algorithm write your story! Be the authors yourselves; use technology wisely, but do not let technology use you." 

When it comes to artificial intelligence, he added, "it is not enough to be 'intelligent' in virtual reality; we must also treat one another humanely, nurturing emotional, spiritual, social and ecological intelligence."

"Therefore, I say to you: learn to humanize the digital, building it as a space of fraternity and creativity -- not a cage where you lock yourselves in, not an addiction or an escape," he said. 

Pope Leo held up St. Carlo Acutis as a "timely example" of a young person "who did not become a slave to the internet, but rather used it skillfully for good" and as a tool for evangelization.

Another new challenge young people had proposed for the compact is getting help "in our education of the interior life," the pope said, because "having a great deal of knowledge is not enough if we do not know who we are or what the meaning of life is."

Young people may experience "that feeling of emptiness or restlessness that does not leave you in peace," he said, or "episodes of distress, violence, bullying," oppression or isolation.

"I think that behind this suffering lies also a void created by a society that has forgotten how to form the spiritual dimension of the human person, focusing only on the technical, social or moral aspects of life," he said.

However, he said, "our desire for the infinite is a compass that tells us: 'Do not settle -- you are made for something greater'; 'do not simply get along, but live.'"

A good role model, he said, is St. Pier Giorgio Frassati, who aimed for "the heights" by living with faith in God. 

"Have the courage to live life to the fullest. Do not settle for appearances or fads; a life stifled by fleeting pleasures will never satisfy us," Pope Leo told the young people. "Instead, let each of you say in your heart: 'I dream of more, Lord; I long for something greater; inspire me!'"

"Keep striving 'toward the heights,' lighting the beacon of hope in the dark hours of history," he said.

The third challenge the pope gave the young people is to be peacemakers.

"We must disarm hearts, renouncing all violence and vulgarity," with "an education for peace that is disarmed and disarming," he said.

"A disarming and disarmed education creates equality and growth for all, recognizing the equal dignity of every young person, without ever dividing young people between the privileged few who have access to expensive schools and the many who do not have access to education," the pope said.

"I invite you to be peacemakers first and foremost where you live -- in your families, at school, in sports and among your friends -- reaching out to those who come from other cultures," he said.

ROME (CNS) -- Pope Leo XIV's recognition of St. John Henry Newman as a "doctor of the church" will be an ecumenical celebration, a sign of esteem for the excellence and ongoing relevance of his teaching, first as an Anglican and then as a Roman Catholic, said a key figure in preparing the declaration.

Anglican Archbishop Stephen Cottrell of York, currently the ranking prelate of the Church of England, was scheduled to lead an Anglican delegation to the formal proclamation Nov. 1 by Pope Leo of St. Newman as a doctor of the church.

Father George Bowen, a priest of the London Oratory and postulator, or official promoter, of St. Newman being named a doctor of the church, spoke with journalists about the process and its implications Oct. 30.

Becoming only the 38th doctor of the church, Father Bowen said, "is not about being intelligent. It's not about being bright. It's about saying something timeless about the church's teaching, putting into words something eminent, something that stands out."

Father Bowen oversaw the compilation and submission to the Vatican of the 600-page "positio" or position paper outlining why St. Newman should be recognized as a doctor of the church. The process began almost immediately after St. Newman's canonization in 2019 and includes letters of support from bishops' conferences and individual bishops -- including many Anglicans, the priest said.

St. Newman was born in London Feb. 21, 1801, was ordained an Anglican priest, became Catholic in 1845, was made a cardinal in 1879 by Pope Leo XIII. He died in 1890. 

"Newman's journey really began as a nominal Christian, baptized Christian who suddenly found faith in the Church of England through the influence of schoolteachers," Father Bowen said. "For all of his life, he was very conscious that half his life was spent in the Church of England. And this was something that was immensely important to him," and "he always recognized as a Catholic that he brought with him all that he had learned about Christ" as an Anglican.

"So, Newman is a big ecumenical figure in the sense that he owes his faith to his upbringing in the Church of England," the priest said. In fact, later in life, St. Newman republished the works he had written as an Anglican with new prefaces and some notes, "but basically saying, 'I'm proud of all this stuff.'"

Anglican Father William Lamb, vicar of the University Church of St. Mary the Virgin at Oxford, where St. Newman had served as vicar from 1828 to 1843, was at the Vatican for the saint's canonization and returned for the proclamation as doctor of the church.

"No one can stand at the altar or preach from the pulpit from which he preached and be unaware of his legacy," he told Catholic News Service Oct. 30.

"In recognizing St. John Henry Newman as a doctor of the universal church," Father Lamb said, "Pope Leo has made a significant and gracious ecumenical gesture in acknowledging the influence of this Anglican patrimony."

After the visit of Britain's King Charles III, which included prayer with the pope in the Sistine Chapel, the Anglican priest said, "I continue to pray for positive ecumenical relations and an ever-greater commitment to seek the gift of unity in a world which is so often fractured and estranged." 

St. Newman and the "Oxford Movement" within Anglicanism "have shaped the life and spirituality of the University Church in many ways," Father Lamb said. "Every Sunday when we celebrate the Eucharist, we use a chalice that Newman gave to St. Mary's when he was the vicar."

But the saint's legacy also is broader and continues to impact the university, he said.

"Newman contributed to the reform of the tutorial system, one of the hallmarks of an Oxford education, when he was a tutor at Oriel College," Father Lamb said. "We celebrate not only his legacy as a theologian but also his contribution to the world of higher education. His 'Idea of a University' remains a key point of reference for the debate about both the value and the future of higher education."

 

In an interview published in the Vatican newspaper, Patricia Gualinga, the vice president of the Ecclesial Conference of the Amazon, was asked, “Do nature, animals, and trees have rights comparable to human rights?”

She replied:

The Constitution of Ecuador recognizes that they have rights: not as individuals but as ecosystems. Obviously, we are talking about fragile ecosystems that can be destroyed: therefore, they have rights... legal rights. Our communities, despite feeding off nature, have internal rules that allow us not to transgress beyond what is permitted. The right of other living beings is to continue to reproduce, to survive, and not to be destroyed and exterminated.

“We indigenous peoples have been on the front lines of resistance and defense of these spaces,” she said in response to a question about fossil fuels. “If we can still say that the Amazon exists, it is thanks to the indigenous peoples. This has been our strength, and for this we have suffered consequences: we have been stigmatized, criminalized, persecuted, killed.”

The Ecclesial Conference of the Amazon was founded in 2020, following the Amazon synod.

Pope Leo XIV received the leaders of Chile’s episcopal conference and discussed “the Church’s journey in communion and synodality, the current situation of the country on the eve of the November elections and the priority of evangelization,” according to the conference.

“The Holy Father encouraged us to keep hope alive and to strengthen ecclesial communion, with particular attention to the most vulnerable people,” said Archbishop René Osvaldo Rebolledo Salinas, president of the bishops’ conference. “We feel in his words a great pastoral closeness and a sincere concern for our national reality.”

Chile, a South American nation of 18.7 million (map), is 87% Christian (61% Catholic).

The Church in Italy concluded its four-year synodal process with the approval of a 72-page final document, Lievito di pace e di speranza [Leaven of Peace and Hope].

The document gained the approval of 781 out of 809 synod participants. Section 71c, which attracted the least support (76,9% of participants), called for the study of women in the diaconate.

The document also called on Italian dioceses, by “overcoming the discriminatory attitude that is sometimes widespread in ecclesial environments and in society,” to “commit themselves to promoting the recognition and accompaniment of homoaffective and transgender persons, as well as their parents, who already belong to the Christian community” (30c).

The document then asked the bishops’ conference to

support with prayer and reflection the “days” promoted by civil society to combat all forms of violence and demonstrate sympathy towards those who are hurt and discriminated against (Days against violence and gender discrimination, pedophilia, bullying, femicide, homophobia and transphobia, etc.). (30d)

Pope Leo XIV received King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium, a year after the king welcomed Pope Francis to Belgium. At the time, the king’s remarks to Pope Francis on the Church and sexual abuse provoked international headlines.

In contrast, the king’s audience with Pope Leo was more muted, with The Brussels Times reporting that “the King and Queen expressed satisfaction with the strong relationship between Belgium and the Vatican. Their discussions touched on several global concerns, including Africa, the war in Ukraine, and efforts to promote international peace.”

Following the Jubilee of Synodal teams and Participatory Bodies, the 16th Ordinary Council of the General Secretariat of the Synod held a two-day meeting. The Ordinary Council is responsible for implementing the 2021-2024 synod on synodality, officially the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops. (The first was held in 1967.)

The Ordinary Council listed eight “priority themes” for the implementation phase of the synod on synodality, which culminates in an ecclesial assembly in 2028. Among the themes are “formation in synodal spirituality,” “the link between listening to the People of God and pastoral and operational discernment,” and “accompaniment of those experiencing fears or disappointments regarding the synodal process.”