Pope Leo tells students at Europe’s largest university to battle anxiety in today’s world
Pope Leo XVI addressed students at Sapienza University, urging them to confront anxiety amid modern pressures. He referenced his Augustinian background and St. Augustine to emphasize the importance of passion and wisdom. The Pope highlighted how societal expectations and competitiveness fuel anxiety, calling it a "spiritual malaise." He urged young people to question their identity, reminding them they are more than numbers or algorithms.
5 months ago
Pope Leo XIV addressed students at Rome’s La Sapienza University on 14 May 2026, warning that a “great lie” that reduces people to numbers fuels anxiety and urging young people to seek meaning, justice, and responsible action in a world strained by war, technology, and ecological challenges 1 2.
The pontiff described a “spiritual malaise” affecting many young people and emphasized that “we are a desire, not an algorithm” 1 2.
He asked students to confront the question “Who are you?” and to answer it through study, dialogue, and a commitment to justice 1 2.
Leo XIV said anxiety stems from a “pervasive lie of a distorted system” that treats individuals as numbers, heightens competition, and creates endless expectations 1 2.
He linked this to “difficult seasons” for everyone and urged students not to resign but to transform restlessness into prophetic action 1 2.
The pope condemned the “inhuman evolution” of war aided by new technologies, citing conflicts in Ukraine, Gaza, the Palestinian territories, Lebanon, and Iran 1 2.
He warned that rising military budgets—Europe’s spending rose 14 % to $864 billion in 2025—undermine education, health, and diplomacy 2.
Leo XIV called for vigilant monitoring of AI in both military and civilian spheres, stressing that it must not “de‑responsibilize human choices” or worsen conflicts 1 2.
Referencing Pope Francis’s Laudato Si’, the pontiff lamented that “the situation does not seem to have improved” and urged students to protect the Earth with “intelligence and boldness” 1 2.
He described teaching as a form of charity, comparable to helping migrants or the poor, and encouraged students to love human life and its possibilities 2.
Students greeted Leo XIV with enthusiasm, chanting “Long live the pope.” A student, Benedetta Marchiori, said the visit brought joy and hope, while medical student Chiara Clementoni found the message encouraging 2.
The article noted that Pope Benedict XVI’s planned 2008 visit to La Sapienza was cancelled after protests labeling him “anti‑science,” a tension the current visit did not revisit 1 2.
During the 2026 visit, the rector, Professor Antonella Polimeni, led Leo XIV through the campus and an exhibition on the university’s papal ties 2.
At the conclusion of the meeting, the university presented the pope with a reproduction of a stone from the Holy Sepulcher, linked to ongoing archaeological work by La Sapienza scholars 2.
Address youth anxiety through Catholic teachings on identity and vocation
Youth anxiety often grows where people cannot answer two questions: “Who am I?” and “What is my life for?” Catholic teaching approaches anxiety at both levels—by grounding identity in the dignity of the human person and by opening the future through vocation and discernment.
Catholic anthropology starts from the reality that every human person is not a disposable unit of productivity, but a bearer of intrinsic dignity. That dignity is not invented by society; it is rooted in being made in the image of God and therefore carries fundamental rights and duties.
The Catechism connects this dignity to moral and social consequences: respect for the human person means recognizing the other as “another self” and safeguarding rights that flow from inherent human worth.
This matters for youth anxiety in a direct way: when a culture (or even a peer group) treats people as “useful only if they perform,” young people internalize a fearful question—“If I fail, I lose my value.” Catholic teaching resists that fear by insisting that dignity is prior to social systems and must be recognized, not granted.
Moreover, Catholic identity is not only “personal” but communal. The Catechism explicitly links human dignity to the common good, stating that everyone should support institutions that improve life conditions.
So anxiety is also addressed socially: when young people experience exclusion, insecurity, or instability, that isn’t merely a private problem—it can be a symptom of broken structures that fail to serve human dignity. The Church even identifies “sinful inequalities” that contradict the Gospel and harm peace and justice.
Catholic teaching does not deny that anxiety is real; it identifies it as spiritually dangerous when it becomes a pattern of giving up or not acting because results are not immediate.
In Christus vivit, Pope Francis describes anxiety as a temptation that “can work against us by making us give up whenever we do not see instant results,” and warns against the “paralysis of the living dead”—those who have “no life” because they are afraid to take risks, make mistakes, or persevere.
That language is important: anxiety is not only an emotion—it can become a habit that blocks growth. The antidote is not merely distraction; it is hope expressed through patient commitment.
Pope Francis also treats anxiety in explicitly vocational terms. In a vocations message, he speaks of “ghosts” that trouble the heart when a person is called to a state of life—marriage, ordained ministry, consecrated life. The “ghost of disbelief” whispers, “Surely this vocation is not for me!”
But Jesus responds with an authoritative reassurance: “Take heart, it is I; have no fear”—because the journey of vocation is not a solo escape from storms, but a path where the Lord comes to meet the person.
So Catholic teaching reframes anxiety: the question is not only “Why do I feel afraid?” but also “Who is in the boat with me?” Vocation discernment assumes companionship—God’s presence and the Church’s accompaniment.
A key theme in Catholic youth ministry is that vocational discernment is not a cold “decision tree,” but a response to being loved and claimed.
USCCB’s framework describes discernment as something young people need to recognize as “something more than merely a pragmatic decision.” It is ultimately a recognition of why someone was made and what God’s plan is for life.
Pope Francis similarly connects vocation to hope, not self-promotion. Every vocation, once perceived in the heart, gives rise to an impulse to love and service as hope and charity, rather than a way of seeking personal advantage.
That directly counters anxiety’s tendency toward self-centrism (“What if I’m wrong?” “What if I’m not enough?”). Catholic vocation re-centers the person on God’s call and the good of others.
USCCB also speaks of vocational discernment through “foundational questions” like: “Where am I being called to go? How can I use my gifts? How can I make the world a better place?”
Notice how those questions shift anxiety from rumination to mission: the “future” becomes something to cooperate with, not something to fear.
Catholic teaching on identity and vocation is not meant to remain abstract. Youth anxiety often worsens when young people are left alone with it. The Church therefore emphasizes presence and accompaniment.
USCCB states that both youth and young adults, when facing serious hardships (including unemployment, poverty, family breakdown, disability, and domestic abuse), can experience loneliness, isolation, anxiety, stress, insecurity, and even clinical depression—sometimes alongside contemplation of self-harm or suicide.
Because of this, the framework insists that young people need “the presence of Christ and the Church” amid challenges.
At the same time, the framework highlights that ministries should guide young people by providing positive experiences and models who “joyfully live out their vocational calling.” These include faithful married couples, devoted priests and consecrated persons, and active Catholics of all generations.
This is an intentional antidote to anxiety: anxiety often feeds on the belief that no one’s life works. The Church counters that belief by showing lives that have found meaning.
Discernment itself is described as a “path of freedom” that brings “to full fruit,” and pastoral leaders are called to help young people “discern the salutary promptings of the good Spirit.”
In other words, freedom is not “doing whatever you want,” but cooperating with grace through truthful guidance.
Finally, Pope Francis emphasizes that anxiety and discouragement are overcome not just by information, but by relational and spiritual support. For vocations, he calls for prayer, meditation on God’s Word, Eucharistic adoration, and spiritual accompaniment, and he points young people “always” to Mary.
Youth anxiety often has a social and economic component as well as a personal one. Pope Francis has described how marginalized young people can be left “too often… alone,” and he also frames certain conditions as social sin—meaning society has responsibility when it blocks a future for the young.
That means Catholic response must include both personal spiritual care and a credible community that builds pathways, not dead ends.
Drawing the threads together, Catholic teaching implies a practical spirituality of vocation that addresses anxiety:
In sum: Catholic teaching treats youth anxiety by restoring truth about the person (dignity prior to society), restoring truth about time (youth is not “in-between,” but a real moment of response), and restoring truth about the future (vocation is a hopeful call answered with courage and accompaniment).
Youth anxiety is not only “managed” but transformed when Catholic identity is affirmed—every person has intrinsic dignity and a vocation-shaped meaning that does not depend on momentary results—and when young people are supported by the Church’s presence, discernment, and hope.