Pope Leo XIV warns students against the ‘great lie’ fueling youth anxiety
EWTN News • • world
Key Points:
- Pope Leo XIV visited Rome’s La Sapienza University, denouncing the “great lie” that reduces people to numbers and fuels anxiety and depression among young people, urging students to see themselves as more than algorithms.
- He criticized the rise in military spending, especially in Europe, warning that it fuels tensions, diverts resources from education and healthcare, and enriches elites indifferent to the common good.
- The pope highlighted the dangers of artificial intelligence in both military and civilian use, calling for vigilance to ensure human responsibility in decision-making and to prevent escalation of conflicts.
- Addressing ecological concerns, Leo XIV encouraged youth to transform restlessness into prophecy and seek meaning beyond consumerism, emphasizing the importance of teaching as an act of charity and human dignity.
- The visit was warmly received by students and the university community, who appreciated the pope’s message of hope, personal growth, and the value of wisdom, culminating in a gift of a stone from the Holy Sepulcher linked to ongoing archaeological work by La Sapienza.