Leo XIV: Form Whole Persons, Not Algorithms
In Montevideo he invoked St. John Paul II’s teaching and urged Catholic schools to put human dignity ahead of technological tools.
On November 7, 2026, during his apostolic journey to Uruguay, Pope Leo XIV visited the Catholic University of Uruguay (UCU) in Montevideo, more than 38 years after St. John Paul II’s historic stop in the same country.
Rector Fr. Julio Fernández Techera, S.J., welcomed the Holy Father and recalled the Church’s educational presence in Uruguay since 1680. That presence now includes 160 schools, two universities, and thousands of Christian educators. The rector noted the university’s growth to 8,000 students and nearly 30,000 graduates, asking the Pope’s blessing for continued fidelity to its mission.
Education as Gospel Made Flesh
Pope Leo XIV defined Catholic education as the concrete way “the Gospel becomes educational gesture, relationship, culture.” He urged the academic community to overcome dualistic views that reduce the body to an object and to recover the beauty of the Gospel and the grandeur of the human person.
He proposed a “walk” through the five senses: contemplation through sight, peacemaking through touch, wisdom and the judicious use of artificial intelligence through taste, the defense of human dignity against dehumanization through smell, and discernment through hearing.
Person Before Algorithm
Addressing schools and universities directly, the Pope called for the “judicious use of technologies and AI, placing the person before the algorithm and harmonizing technical, emotional, social, spiritual, and ecological intelligence.” Catholic education, he insisted, must embody wisdom, prudence, and justice while walking with Christ, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
He encouraged students to live their vocation with enthusiasm and joy, forming whole persons rather than mere technicians. In a culture tempted to treat others as threats or data points, the Holy Father recalled that every person is a blessing to be welcomed and formed in the light of the Gospel.
The visit underscored the Church’s enduring commitment in Uruguay to an education that integrates faith and reason, body and soul, technology and charity—always placing the human person, created in the image of God, at the center.