Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, Prefect of the Dicastery for Culture and Education of the Holy See, addressed a video message to the leaders of 72 Catholic higher education institutions participating in the fifth meeting of rectors of the Uniservitate global network on 15th April.
“Authentic education does not flourish merely through the transmission of content, but is fulfilled when knowledge becomes life,” said the cardinal, highlighting Uniservitate’s commitment as a concrete example of an education that translates into responsibility, openness to others and the capacity for social transformation.
Tolentino de Mendonça emphasised that Uniservitate’s approach is deeply rooted in the vision of the Global Compact on Education promoted by Pope Francis and renewed by Pope Leo XIV. In particular, he highlighted three priorities: cultivating the inner life, humanising the digital environment, and building peace as a shared responsibility. In an international context marked by conflict, he warned that this educational commitment “becomes even more urgent”.
The Vatican prefect placed special emphasis on service-learning as a privileged means of embodying these principles: “It represents a way to ensure that our educational programmes do not remain mere words but become transformative actions,” he stated, highlighting its impact particularly among the poorest and most vulnerable.
The cardinal encouraged the Uniservitate global network to continue seeking strategies to ensure its sustainability. He invited everyone to look to the future with hope, highlighting two important milestones for Catholic higher education: the upcoming Uniservitate global symposium and the world congress on educational ministry, both scheduled for next October.
Cardinal Tolentino de Mendonça’s video message (unofficial transcript available at the following link) was greatly appreciated by the members of Uniservitate, with whom he has maintained close ties since taking up his post in the Vatican. Many recall that, for the third meeting of rectors held in November 2024 in Rome, as part of the 5th Global Symposium, the Cardinal made a particularly significant gesture: he offered the premises of the Dicastery for the meeting and addressed the participants with a speech which, like the video message sent on this occasion, left a deep impression.