Pope Francis’s lasting impact on Notre Dame
In February 2024, Pope Francis met with the University of Notre Dame’s Board of Trustees at the Vatican for the final time.
During the meeting, he praised Notre Dame for dedicating itself to “advancing the Church’s mission of proclaiming the Gospel through the formation of each person in all his or her dimensions” and shared what he saw as the “secret of education”—asking the University to continue to educate students in three languages: “the head, the heart, and the hands.”
“Always remember,” Pope Francis said, “this is the crux of the matter.”
A Catholic university must expand not only the mind, but also the heart, he said, helping its students to cultivate “an openness to all that is true, good, and beautiful.” And a Catholic education then commits us to building a better world with our own hands, he said, by teaching “mutual coexistence, fraternal solidarity, and peace.”
“We cannot stay within the walls or boundaries of our institutions, but must strive to go out to the peripheries and meet and serve Christ in our neighbor,” Pope Francis said. “In this regard, I encourage the University’s continuing efforts to foster in its students zeal for meeting the needs of underprivileged communities.”
It is one of many lessons from the late pontiff that the University has taken to heart.
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