Pope Leo XIV pointed out that one of the most urgent and decisive challenges of our time is “the relationship between education, mental health and digital technologies,” upon receiving attendees at the seminar on this topic organized between the Organization of Ibero-American States, and the Pontifical Commission for Latin America and the Dicastery for Culture this Saturday in the Vatican.

In his speech, the Pope stressed that “many young people possess increasingly sophisticated technological instruments, but they find it difficult to find a meaning for which to live, hope, love and even suffer.”

And he invited to answer the questions that arise “behind so many difficulties, solitudes and psychological fragilities (…) Does my life have any meaning? Is there reliable hope for the future?”

He also regretted that “many young people today live under the yoke of expectations and performance, immersed in an exasperated competitiveness that generates anxiety, fear of not being up to the task and disorientation.”

He also urged addressing the issue of mental health not only as a clinical or technical matter but also working to “cultivate inner life.”

“In fact, it is not enough to connect young people to digital networks, if they then remain disconnected from themselves, from others and from their own interiority. Cultivating inner life means helping new generations to rediscover silence, reflection, the ability to ask questions, the depth of relationships and openness to transcendence,” he explained.

He added that “technology connects us, but education shapes us” and “educating means accompanying young people to discover not only how to live, but also why to live.”

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