«Designing New Maps of Hope,» Apostolic Letter of Pope Leo XIV

In this apostolic letter, the Pope Leo XIV He speaks of education as «an act of hope and a passion that is renewed because it manifests the promise we see in the future of humanity.» As he reminded us in his Apostolic Exhortation Dilexi te, Education «has always been one of the highest expressions of Christian charity.» The world needs this form of hope.

In this context, the Holy Father asks educational communities to «disarm words, lift up their gaze, and guard their hearts.».

1.1. Designing new maps of hope. October 28, 2025 marks the 60th anniversary of the conciliar Declaration. Most serious education on the extreme importance and relevance of education in human life. With that text, andThe Second Vatican Council reminded the Church that education is not an ancillary activity, but rather constitutes the very fabric of evangelization: it is the concrete way in which the Gospel becomes an educational gesture, a relationship, a culture. Today, in the face of rapid changes and disorienting uncertainties, that legacy shows surprising solidity.

Where educational communities allow themselves to be guided by the word of Christ, they do not retreat, but rather relaunch themselves; they do not build walls, but rather bridges. They respond creatively, opening up new possibilities for the transmission of knowledge and meaning in schools, universities, vocational and civic training, school and youth ministry, and research, because the Gospel does not grow old, but «makes all things new» (Ap. 21.5). Each generation hears it as something new that regenerates. Each generation is responsible for the Gospel and for discovering its seminal and multiplying power.

1.2. We live in a complex, fragmented, and digitized educational environment. That is precisely why it is wise to pause and take another look at the «cosmology of paideia Christian»: a vision that, over the centuries, has been able to renew itself and positively inspire all the multifaceted aspects of education. Since its origins, the Gospel has generated «educational constellations»: experiences that are both humble and powerful, capable of reading the signs of the times, of safeguarding the unity between faith and reason, between thought and life, between knowledge and justice. They have been, in the storm, an anchor of salvation; and in the calm, a sail unfurled. A beacon in the night to guide navigation.

1.3. The Declaration Most serious education has not lost its power. Since its reception, a constellation of works and charisms has been born that still guides the way today: schools and universities, movements and institutes, lay associations, religious congregations, and national and international networks. Together, these living bodies have consolidated a spiritual and pedagogical heritage capable of traversing the 21st century and responding to the most pressing challenges. This heritage is not immutable: it is a compass that continues to point the way and speak of the beauty of the journey. Today's expectations are no less than the many that the Church faced sixty years ago.

Rather, they have expanded and become more complex. Faced with the many millions of children in the world who still do not have access to primary education, how can we fail to act? Faced with the dramatic educational emergencies caused by wars, migrations, inequalities, and various forms of poverty, how can we not feel the urgency to renew our commitment? Education—as I recalled in my Apostolic Exhortation Dilexi te– «has always been one of the highest expressions of Christian charity» [1]. The world needs this form of hope.

2. A dynamic history

2.1. The history of Catholic education is the history of the Spirit in action. The Church, «mother and teacher» [2], not through supremacy, but through service: she generates faith and accompanies the growth of freedom, taking on the mission of the Divine Teacher so that all «may have life and have it in abundance» ( Jn 10:10). Successive educational styles have presented a vision of human beings as images of God, called to truth and goodness, and a pluralism of methods at the service of this calling. Educational charisms are not rigid formulas: they are original responses to the needs of each era.

2.2. In the early centuries, the Desert Fathers taught wisdom through parables and apothegms; they rediscovered the path to the essential, to discipline of speech and guarding of the heart; they transmitted a pedagogy of the gaze that recognizes God everywhere. St. Augustine, by grafting biblical wisdom onto the Greco-Roman tradition, understood that the authentic teacher arouses the desire for truth, educates freedom to read the signs and listen to the inner voice. Monasticism has carried on this tradition in the most inaccessible places, where for decades the classical works have been studied, commented on, and taught, so that without this silent work in the service of culture, many masterpieces would not have survived to this day.

«The first universities arose »from the heart of the Church,« and from their origins they revealed themselves to be »an incomparable center of creativity and dissemination of knowledge for the good of humanity." In their classrooms, speculative thought found in the mediation of the mendicant orders the possibility of structuring itself solidly and reaching the frontiers of science. Quite a few religious congregations took their first steps in these fields of knowledge, enriching education in a pedagogically innovative and socially visionary way.

2.3. Education has been expressed in many ways. In the Ratio Studiorum, the richness of the school tradition merges with Ignatian spirituality, adapting a curriculum that is as articulate as it is interdisciplinary and open to experimentation. In 17th-century Rome, St. Joseph Calasanz opened free schools for the poor, sensing that literacy and numeracy are a matter of dignity rather than competence. In France, Saint John Baptist de La Salle, «aware of the injustice of excluding the children of workers and peasants from the educational system» [4], founded the Brothers of the Christian Schools.

At the beginning of the 19th century, also in France, Saint Marcellin Champagnat devoted himself «with all his heart, at a time when access to education was still a privilege of the few, to the mission of educating and evangelizing children and young people» [5]. Similarly, Saint John Bosco, with his «preventive method,» transformed discipline into reasonableness and closeness. Courageous women, such as Vicenta María López y Vicuña, Francesca Cabrini, Giuseppina Bakhita, Maria Montessori, Katharine Drexel, and Elizabeth Ann Seton, opened paths for girls, migrants, and the least among us. I reiterate what I clearly stated in Dilexi te: «The education of the poor, for the Christian faith, is not a favor, but a duty» [6]. This genealogy of concreteness attests that, in the Church, pedagogy is never disembodied theory, but flesh, passion, and history.

3. A living tradition

3.1. Christian education is a collaborative effort: no one educates alone. The educational community is a «we» in which teachers, students, families, administrative and service staff, pastors, and civil society come together to generate life [7]. This «we» prevents the water from stagnating in the swamp of «it has always been done this way» and forces it to flow, to nourish, to irrigate. The foundation remains the same: the person, image of God (Genesis 1:26), capable of truth and relationship. Therefore, the question of the relationship between faith and reason is not an optional chapter: «religious truth is not only a part, but a condition of general knowledge» [8]. 

These words of St. John Henry Newman—whom, in the context of this Jubilee of the World of Education, I have the great joy of declaring co-sponsor of the Church's educational mission together with St. Thomas Aquinas—are an invitation to renew our commitment to knowledge that is as intellectually responsible and rigorous as it is deeply human. And we must also be careful not to fall into the enlightenment of a fides which is exclusively opposed to the ratio.

It is necessary to emerge from the shallows by recovering an empathetic and open vision in order to better understand how human beings are understood today, so as to develop and deepen their teaching. That is why desire and the heart must not be separated from knowledge: it would mean breaking the person. Catholic universities and schools are places where questions are not silenced and doubt is not prohibited, but rather accompanied. There, the heart dialogues with the heart, and the method is that of listening, which recognizes the other as a good, not as a threat. Heart speaks to heart was the cardinal motto of St. John Henry Newman, taken from a letter by St. Francis de Sales: «Sincerity of heart, not abundance of words, touches the hearts of human beings.».

3.2. Educating is an act of hope and a passion that is renewed because it manifests the promise we see in the future of humanity [9]. The specificity, depth, and breadth of educational action is that work, as mysterious as it is real, of «making the self flourish [...] is caring for the soul,» as we read in Plato's Apology of Socrates (30a-b). It is a «profession of promises»: it promises time, trust, competence; it promises justice and mercy, it promises the value of truth and the balm of consolation.

Educating is a task of love that is passed down from generation to generation, mending the torn fabric of relationships and restoring the weight of promise to words: «Every human being is capable of truth, yet the path is much more bearable when we move forward with the help of others» [10]. Truth is sought in community.

Ilustración de Mapas de esperanza: un mapa antiguo con caminos que convergen hacia un horizonte luminoso, símbolo de guía y renovación espiritual.
Representation of Maps of Hope: a map whose paths lead toward a sunrise symbolizing guidance, faith, and the future.

4. The compass of Most serious education

4.1. The conciliar declaration Most serious education It reaffirms everyone's right to education and points to the family as the first school of humanity. The ecclesial community is called to support environments that integrate faith and culture, respect the dignity of all, and engage in dialogue with society. The document warns against reducing education to functional training or an economic tool: a person is not a «skills profile,» not reducible to a predictable algorithm, but a face, a story, a vocation.

4.2. Christian education encompasses the whole person: spiritual, intellectual, emotional, social, and physical. It does not pit manual skills against theory, science against humanism, or technique against conscience. Rather, it calls for professionalism to be imbued with ethics, and for ethics not to be an abstract word, but a daily practice. Education does not measure its value solely in terms of efficiency: it measures it in terms of dignity, justice, and the capacity to serve the common good. This comprehensive anthropological vision must remain the central focus of Catholic pedagogy. Following the thinking of St. John Henry Newman, it opposes a purely mercantilist approach that often forces education today to be measured in terms of functionality and practical utility [11].

4.3. These principles are not memories of the past. They are fixed stars. They say that truth is sought together; that freedom is not a whim, but a response; that authority is not domination, but service. In the educational context, one should not «raise the banner of possession of the truth, neither in the analysis of problems nor in their resolution» [12]. Instead, «it is more important to know how to approach than to give a hasty answer as to why something has happened or how to overcome it. The goal is to learn to face problems, which are always different, because each generation is new, with new challenges, new dreams, new questions» [13]. Catholic education has the task of rebuilding trust in a world marked by conflict and fear, reminding us that we are children and not orphans: from this awareness, fraternity is born.

diseñar nuevos mapas de esperanza papa león XIV carta apostólica

5. The centrality of the person

5.2. Catholic schools are environments where faith, culture, and life intertwine. They are not simply institutions, but living environments where the Christian vision permeates every discipline and every interaction. Educators are called to a responsibility that goes beyond their employment contract: their testimony is as valuable as their lessons. That is why training of teachers—scientific, pedagogical, cultural, and spiritual—is decisive. In sharing a common educational mission, a common path of formation is also necessary, «initial and ongoing, capable of grasping the educational challenges of the present moment and providing the most effective tools to address them [...].

5.1. Putting the person at the center means educating in the long view of Abraham (Genesis 15:5): helping them discover the meaning of life, inalienable dignity, and responsibility toward others. Education is not only the transmission of content, but also the learning of virtues. It forms citizens capable of serving and believers capable of bearing witness, men and women who are freer and no longer alone. And the training It cannot be improvised. I fondly remember the years I spent in the beloved Diocese of Chiclayo, visiting the San Toribio de Mogrovejo Catholic University, and the opportunities I had to address the academic community, saying: «No one is born a professional; every university career is built step by step, book by book, year after year, sacrifice after sacrifice.» [14].

This implies that educators must be open to learning and developing their knowledge, to renewing and updating their methodologies, but also to spiritual and religious formation and sharing [15]. Technical updates are not enough: it is necessary to nurture a heart that listens, a gaze that encourages, and an intelligence that discerns.

5.3. The family remains the primary place of education. The schools Catholic schools collaborate with parents, they do not replace them, because «the duty of education, especially religious education, belongs to you before anyone else» [16]. The educational alliance requires intentionality, listening, and shared responsibility. It is built with shared processes, tools, and verifications. It is an effort and a blessing: when it works, it inspires confidence; when it is lacking, everything becomes more fragile.

6. Identity and subsidiarity

6.1. Already the Most serious education recognized the great importance of the principle of subsidiarity and the fact that circumstances vary according to different local ecclesial contexts. However, the Second Vatican Council articulated the right to education and its fundamental principles as universally valid. It emphasized the responsibilities that fall on both parents themselves and the State.

He considered it a «sacred right» to offer education that would enable students to «evaluate moral values with a clear conscience» [17] and called on civil authorities to respect that right. He also warned against subordinating education to the labor market and to the often harsh and inhuman logic of finance.

6.2. Christian education is presented as a choreography. Addressing university students at World Youth Day in Lisbon, my late predecessor, Pope Francis, said: «Be protagonists of a new choreography that puts the human person at the center; be choreographers of the dance of life» [18].

Forming the whole person means avoiding compartmentalization. True faith is not an added «subject,» but rather the breath that oxygenates all other subjects. Thus, Catholic education becomes leaven in the human community: it generates reciprocity, overcomes reductionism, and opens up social responsibility. The task today is to dare to embrace an integral humanism that addresses the questions of our time without losing sight of the source.

7. Contemplation of Creation

7.1. Christian anthropology is the basis of an educational approach that promotes respect, personalized support, discernment, and the development of all human dimensions. Among these, spiritual inspiration is not secondary, but is realized and strengthened through contemplation of Creation.

This aspect is not new in Christian philosophical and theological tradition, where the study of nature also had the purpose of demonstrating the traces of God (vestiges of God) in our world. In the Collations in Hexaemeron, St. Bonaventure of Bagnoregio writes that «the whole world is a shadow, a path, a footprint.» It is the book written from outside (Ezekiel 2:9), because in every creature there is a reflection of the divine model, but mixed with darkness. The world is, therefore, a path similar to opacity mixed with light; in that sense, it is a path.

Just as a ray of light entering through a window is colored according to the different colors of the different parts of the glass, the divine ray is reflected differently in each creature and acquires different properties» [19]. This also applies to the plasticity of teaching calibrated according to different characters, which in any case converge in the beauty of Creation and its safeguarding. And it requires educational projects that are «interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary, exercised with wisdom and creativity» [20].

7.2. Forgetting our common humanity has led to divisions and violence; and when the earth suffers, the poor suffer most. Catholic education cannot remain silent: it must unite social justice and environmental justice, promote sobriety and sustainable lifestyles, and form consciences capable of choosing not only what is convenient, but what is just. Every small gesture—avoiding waste, choosing responsibly, defending the common good—is cultural and moral literacy.

7.3. Ecological responsibility is not limited to technical data. These are necessary, but not sufficient. We need an education that involves the mind, the heart, and the hands; new habits, community styles, virtuous practices. Peace is not the absence of conflict: it is a gentle force that rejects violence. An education for peace that is «unarmed and disarming» [21] teaches us to lay down the weapons of aggressive words and judgmental looks, and to learn the language of mercy and reconciled justice.

diseñar nuevos mapas de esperanza papa león XIV carta apostólica

8. An educational constellation

8.1. I use the term «constellation» because the Catholic educational world is a living, pluralistic network: parish schools and colleges, universities and higher education institutions, vocational training centers, movements, digital platforms, learning initiatives.-school, university, and cultural ministries and pastoral care. Each «star» shines with its own light, but together they chart a course. Where there was rivalry in the past, today we ask institutions to come together: unity is our most prophetic strength.

8.2. Methodological and structural differences are not burdens, but resources. The plurality of charisms, if well coordinated, forms a coherent and fruitful picture. In an interconnected world, the game is played on two boards: the local and the global. We need exchanges of teachers and students, joint projects between continents, mutual recognition of good practices, and missionary and academic cooperation. The future compels us to learn to collaborate more and to grow together.

8.3. Constellations reflect their own light in an infinite universe. Like a kaleidoscope, their colors intertwine, creating new chromatic variations. The same is true in the realm of Catholic educational institutions, which are open to encountering and listening to civil society, political and administrative authorities, as well as representatives of the productive sectors and labor categories.

You are invited to collaborate even more actively with them in order to share and improve educational itineraries, so that theory is supported by experience and practice. History also teaches us that our institutions welcome students and families who are non-believers or of other religions, but who desire a truly human education. For this reason, as is already the case, we must continue to promote participatory educational communities, in which lay people, religious, families, and students share responsibility for the educational mission together with public and private institutions.

9. Navigating new spaces

9.1. Sixty years ago, the Most serious education It ushered in an era of trust: it encouraged the updating of methods and languages. Today, this trust is measured against the digital environment. Technologies must serve people, not replace them; they must enrich the learning process, not impoverish relationships and communities. A Catholic university or school without vision runs the risk of falling into soulless “efficiency,” into the standardization of knowledge, which then becomes spiritual impoverishment.

9.2. To inhabit these spaces, pastoral creativity is needed: strengthening teacher training in the digital sphere; valuing active teaching methods; promoting learning.-service and responsible citizenship; avoid any technophobia. Our attitude toward technology can never be hostile, because «technological progress is part of God's plan for creation.».

But it requires discernment in instructional design, assessment, platforms, data protection, and equitable access. In any case, no algorithm can replace what makes education human: poetry, irony, love, art, imagination, the joy of discovery, and even learning from mistakes as an opportunity for growth.

9.3. The key point is not the technology itself, but how we use it. Artificial intelligence and digital environments must be geared toward protecting dignity, justice, and work; they must be governed by criteria of public ethics and participation; they must be accompanied by theological and philosophical reflection that is up to the task.

Catholic universities have a decisive task: to offer «diaconia of culture,» fewer lectures and more tables where people can sit together, without unnecessary hierarchies, to touch the wounds of history and seek, in the Spirit, wisdom that springs from the lives of peoples.

10. The North Star of the education pact

10.1. Among the stars that guide the way is the Global Education Pact. I gratefully accept this prophetic legacy entrusted to us by Pope Francis. It is an invitation to form an alliance and a network to educate in universal fraternity.

His seven paths continue to be our foundation: putting people at the center; listening to children and young people; promoting the dignity and full participation of women; recognizing the family as the primary educator; being open to welcoming and inclusion; renewing the economy and politics in the service of human beings; caring for our common home. These «stars» have inspired schools, universities, and educational communities around the world, generating concrete processes of humanization.

10.2. Sixty years after the Most serious education Five years after the Compact, history challenges us with renewed urgency. Rapid and profound changes expose children, adolescents, and young people to unprecedented vulnerabilities. It is not enough to preserve: we must relaunch.

I ask all educational institutions to usher in a new era that speaks to the hearts of the younger generations, rebuilding knowledge and meaning, competence and responsibility, faith and life. The Pact is part of a broader Global Educational Constellation: charisms and institutions, although different, form a unified and luminous design that guides our steps in the darkness of the present time.

10.3. To the seven paths, I add three priorities. The first concerns the interior life: young people seek depth; they need spaces for silence, discernment, dialogue with their conscience and with God. The second concerns the human digital: let us educate in the wise use of technologies and AI, placing the person before the algorithm and harmonizing technical, emotional, social, spiritual, and ecological intelligences. The third concerns disarmed and disarming peace: we educate in nonviolent languages, in reconciliation, in building bridges and not walls; «Blessed are the peacemakers» (Mt 5.9) becomes the method and content of learning.

10.4. We are aware that the Catholic educational network has a unique reach. It is a constellation that spans all continents, with a particular presence in low-income areas: a concrete promise of educational mobility and social justice [23]. This constellation demands quality and courage: quality in pedagogical planning, in teacher training, in governance; courage to guarantee access to the poorest, to support fragile families, to promote scholarships and inclusive policies.

Evangelical gratuitousness is not rhetoric: it is a style of relationship, a method, and a goal. Where access to education remains a privilege, the Church must open doors and invent new paths, because «losing the poor» is equivalent to losing the school itself. This also applies to universities: an inclusive outlook and care for the heart save us from standardization; a spirit of service rekindles imagination and revives love.

diseñar nuevos mapas de esperanza papa león XIV

11. New maps of hope

11.1. On the sixtieth anniversary of the Most serious education, The Church celebrates a rich educational history, but it also faces the urgent need to update its proposals in light of the signs of the times. The educational constellations Catholic communities are an inspiring example of how tradition and the future can be intertwined without contradiction: a living tradition that extends into new forms of presence and service. Constellations are not reduced to neutral, flattened concatenations of different experiences.

Instead of chains, we dare to think of constellations, in their intertwining full of wonder and awakening. In them lies the ability to navigate challenges with hope, but also with courageous reflection, without losing fidelity to the Gospel. We are aware of the difficulties: hyper-digitalization can fragment attention; the crisis of relationships can wound the psyche; social insecurity and inequalities can extinguish desire.

However, it is precisely here that Catholic education can be a beacon: not a nostalgic refuge, but a laboratory for discernment, pedagogical innovation, and prophetic witness. Designing new maps of hope: this is the urgency of the mandate.

11.2. I ask the educational communities: take apart your words, lift up your gaze, guard your hearts. Take apart your words, because education does not advance through controversy, but through the gentleness that listens. Lift up your gaze. As God said to Abraham: «Look up at the sky and count the stars» ( Genesis 15.5): know how to ask yourselves where you are going and why. Guard your hearts: relationships come before opinions, people before programs.

Do not waste time and opportunities: «to quote an Augustinian expression: our present is an intuition, a time that we live and that we must take advantage of before it slips through our fingers» [24]. In conclusion, dear brothers and sisters, I make my own the exhortation of the Apostle Paul: «You must shine like stars in the world, holding high the word of life» (Phil 2:15-16).

This is essential for moving forward together toward a future full of Maps of hope.

In conclusion, dear brothers and sisters, I echo the exhortation of the Apostle Paul: «You must shine like stars in the world, holding high the word of life» (Phil 2:15-16).

11.3. I entrust this journey to the Virgin Mary, Sedes Sapientiae, and to all the holy educators. I ask pastors, consecrated persons, lay people, those responsible for institutions, teachers, and students: be servants of the world of education, choreographers of hope, tireless seekers of wisdom, credible creators of expressions of beauty.

Fewer labels, more stories; fewer sterile contrasts, more harmony in the Spirit. Then our constellation will not only shine, but also guide us: toward the truth that sets us free (cf. Jn 8:32), toward the fraternity that consolidates justice (cf. Mt 23:8), toward the hope that does not disappoint (cf. Rm 5, 5).

St. Peter's Basilica, October 27, 2025. Eve of the 60th anniversary.

LEÓN PP. XIV

[1] LEÓN XIV, Apostolic Exhortation Dilexi te (October 4, 2025), no. 68.
[2] Cf. JOHN XXIII, Encyclical Letter Mother and Teacher (May 15, 1961).
[3] JOHN PAUL II, Apostolic Constitution From the Heart of the Church (August 15, 1990), no. 1.
[4] LEÓN XIV, Apostolic Exhortation Dilexi te (October 4, 2025), no. 69.
[5] LEON XIV, Apostolic Exhortation Dilexi te (October 4, 2025), no. 70.
[6] LEÓN XIV, Apostolic Exhortation Dilexi te (October 4, 2025), no. 72.
[7] CONGREGATION FOR CATHOLIC EDUCATION, Instruction «The identity of the Catholic school for a culture of dialogue»(January 25, 2022), no. 32.
[8] JOHN HENRY NEWMAN, The idea of the University (2005), p. 76.
[9] Cf. CONGREGATION FOR CATHOLIC EDUCATION, Instrumentum laboris Educating today and tomorrow. A passion that is renewed (April 7, 2014), Introduction.
[10] His Excellency Monsignor ROBERT F. PREVOST, O.S.A., Homily at the Catholic University of Santo Toribio de Mogrovejo (2018).
[11] See JOHN HENRY NEWMAN, Writings on the University (2001).
[12] LEÓN XIV, Audience with the members of the Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice Foundation (May 17, 2025).
[13] Ibid.
[14] His Excellency ROBERT F. PREVOST, O.S.A., Homily at the Catholic University of Santo Toribio de Mogrovejo (2018).
[15] CONGREGATION FOR CATHOLIC EDUCATION, Circular Letter Educating together in Catholic schools (September 8, 2007), no. 20.
[16] SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, Joy and Hope (June 29, 1966), no. 48.
[17] SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Declaration Most serious education (October 28, 1965), no. 1.
[18] POPE FRANCIS, Address to university students on the occasion of World Youth Day (August 3, 2023).
[19] Saint Bonaventure of Bagnoregio, Collations in Hexaemeron, XII, in Complete Works (ed. Peltier), Vivès, Paris, vol. IX (1867), pp. 87–88.
[20] POPE FRANCIS, Apostolic Constitution The joy of truth (December 8, 2017), no. 4c.
[21] LEÓN XIV, Greeting from the central loggia of St. Peter's Basilica after the election (May 8, 2025).
[22] CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH AND CONGREGATION FOR CULTURE AND EDUCATION, Note Old and new (January 28, 2025), no. 117.
[23] Cf. Statistical Yearbook of the Church (updated as of December 31, 2022).
[24] His Excellency ROBERT F. PREVOST, O.S.A., Message to the Catholic University of Santo Toribio de Mogrovejo on the occasion of the 18th anniversary of its founding (2016).

Enrique Shaw: the Argentine businessman who transformed his company with the Gospel

Enrique Shaw is one of those names that breaks the mold: a deeply humane businessman, a layman committed to the Church, and a family man who understood that holiness also plays a role in the office, in the factory, and in day-to-day management. His life not only left its mark on Argentina, but today inspires thousands of people who seek to live their faith in the midst of the world.

Declared Venerable by the Church in 2021, his cause for beatification is moving forward, driven by the testimony of those who knew him: a man who worked, led, and served as one who wanted to be like Christ. His figure challenges us to rediscover the role of the laity in the mission of the Church, a mission that the CARF Foundation supports supporting the training of seminarians and priests diocesan priests, who will guide as many people as he did, both humanly and spiritually.

Who was Enrique Shaw? A life of faith, work, and service

The Venerable Enrique Ernest Shaw was born in 1921. His mother died when he was very young, and his father decided to entrust his spiritual education to a priest of the Sacramentinos. That early education marked the beginning of a God-centered life.

He later joined the Navy and married Cecilia Bunge, with whom he had a large family: nine children. After leaving military service, he entered the business world, where he developed an innovative vision of Christian leadership. He was one of the founders of the Christian Association of Business Leaders (ACDE) in Argentina, and promoted spaces where ethics, social justice, and charity were lived out in concrete ways.

An entrepreneur who brought the Gospel to the workplace

Shaw believed that faith should permeate all decisions, including economic ones. He did not conceive of the company as a mere place of production, but as a human community where each person had dignity and rights.
Some characteristics that defined his business style:

His leadership style anticipated what the Church would develop decades later as Social Doctrine applied to the world of work: a leadership that seeks prosperity without sacrificing humanity.

A coherent family and spiritual life

Fotografía en blanco y negro de Enrique Shaw y su familia sentados en la playa, sonriendo y mirando a cámara.
The venerable Enrique Shaw and his wife, Cecilia, on a day at the beach with their children. Family life had a profound impact on his journey of faith.

At home, the venerable Shaw lived his faith naturally and joyfully. His warmth, his ability to listen, and his constant search for holiness in everyday life left a mark on his wife, his children, and hundreds of people who crossed his path.

During his illness—a cancer that accompanied him in his final years—he continued to work, encouraging others and offering his suffering for the people he loved. Many testimonies highlight his serenity and his way of facing pain with hope and gratitude.

The cause for beatification of Enrique Shaw

In 2021, Pope Francis approved the decree recognizing heroic virtues by Enrique Shaw, granting him the title of Venerable. This is a decisive step in the beatification process.

The cause continues to move forward thanks to the testimony of those who witnessed his life and the spiritual fruits that his example continues to bear. For the Church, the venerable Shaw represents a model of the laity: a Christian who sanctifies work, accompanies others, and builds a more just society.

What Enrique Shaw inspires in lay people around the world today

His figure answers a question that many believers ask themselves today: How can we live our faith in a demanding professional environment?

Shaw proves that it is possible:

In a world where competitiveness seems to prevail over the individual, his testimony brings the essence of the Gospel back to the center of professional activity.

The CARF Foundation: training those who will accompany and inspire the laity

Enrique Shaw's life shows how decisive it is to have a good Christian education, especially received from childhood and accompanied by trained priests.

Today, that same mission continues with strength in CARF Foundation, which helps seminarians and diocesan priests from around the world receive a comprehensive education: academic, human, and spiritual. They will be the ones who accompany lay people like Shaw, and who will enlighten businesses, families, parishes, and entire communities.

Your support makes it possible for this chain of training to continue unbroken.

Help train those who will lead the Church of the future.

👉 Donate now and put a face to your donation.

In Praise of Simplicity

Today we must praise simplicity. It is a rare virtue that we want to appreciate in others, but perhaps we are not convinced that it is also very good for us. Some, due to their accumulated life experience, harbor a certain distrust of what is natural and simple; and, fearing they will be deceived when they encounter a simple person, they strive only to find out what that person is hiding.

The spiritual greatness of simplicity

Many people may consider simplicity to be useless in the struggle for life that we face every morning. I must confess that I am moved every time I meet a simple person who is «natural or spontaneous, uncomplicated in character, free of reserve or artifice,» as defined by the dictionary; and when faced with other human beings who are also simple and who, according to the dictionary, «in their dealings with others, do not assume an attitude of superiority in terms of status, intelligence, knowledge, etc., even if they are.».

The simple man enjoys the kindness of others, rejoices in the joy of those around him, and enjoys the sixth sense of discovering beauty and goodness around him. I see him as if he were always at God's side, thanking Him for creation.

The joy of those who discover God in simplicity

A sunset by the sea, a sunset viewed from the top of a mountain, a peaceful conversation with a friend... the simple man savors every detail. His simplicity opens the horizon of his spirit to the greatness of God, of the world, of all creation; the greatness of friendship, the greatness of the company of a loved one and the wonder of love that is enclosed in a grateful heart; the greatness of a spirit that rejoices with the joy of those around him...

Persona contemplando un paisaje natural desde lo alto de un monte, simbolizando la sencillez y la búsqueda interior.
Contemplating a landscape at sunset, evoking simplicity and spiritual connection with Creation.

In this rediscovery, the intelligence of simplicity finds a place for everything in the order of the universe. With simplicity, one enjoys conquering the moon; and no less joyful is smiling at a newborn baby, helping an elderly woman who is somewhat helpless to cross the street, comforting a grandchild who is suffering the first professional failure of his life, rejoicing with a neighbor over a lottery prize...

I don't know if we are still too influenced by Nietzsche's miserable dreams of greatness, with his superman in tow; a superman who is weak in intelligence and has feet of clay, the product of an evasive imagination.

Or perhaps it is our innate sense of tragedy that prevents us from discovering the value and flavor of ordinary things, leading us to unattainable dreams, sterile and useless dreams, so different from true and great human ambitions, and causing us to go through life without enjoying the simplicity of so many wonders.

Scripture expresses this graphically by showing us the prophet Elijah learning to discover God, not in the storm, nor in the hail, nor in the strong winds, nor in the earthquake, nor in the fire, but in “a gentle breeze,” the most ordinary and common thing, where no one would expect it. Christ thanks and rewards those who give a glass of water to the thirsty.

The simple man savors, has a palate for tasting the flavor of things, enjoys giving thanks—giving thanks is also a privilege of the intelligent—and receiving that small reward of life that is the simplicity of a smile.

Juan Ramón Jiménez expresses it in poetic prose: «What a smile the little girl had! With her tearful joy, she offered me two carefully chosen oranges. I took them gratefully and gave one to the weak little donkey as sweet consolation, and the other to Platero as a golden reward.».

It is not nostalgia for other times gone by, better times, childhood times. Simplicity is the gateway to understanding a future that begins at every moment. That future which the simple-minded embrace with open arms. Sometimes I think that the simple-minded hide a treasure: the eternity of God's love.

Ernesto Juliá (ernesto.julia@gmail.com) | Previously published in Religion Confidential.

Immaculate Conception: light for the world

The Feast of the Immaculate Conception invites us every December 8 to contemplate Mary in the fullness of grace. It is a solemnity that has its roots in the tradition of the Church and, at the same time, looks forward: toward the redemption that Christ brings to the world and toward the mission that every believer is called to live.

In this mystery, the Church recognizes that God prepared Mary of Nazareth from the first moment of her existence to be the Mother of the Savior. A truth that illuminates the Annunciation, introduces us to the wait for the Advent season and renews the spiritual life of Christians. It is also a day of special significance for institutions such as the CARF Foundation, which seeks to spread a solid formation in the faith and promote vocations to the service of the universal Church.

Cuadro de Murillo de la Inmaculada Concepción

A dogma that reveals the logic of God's love

The proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception on December 8, 1854, was not an improvised novelty. It was the solemn recognition of something that Christian piety, liturgy, and the Church Fathers had affirmed for centuries: that Mary was preserved from original sin from the moment of her conception, through the anticipated merits of Jesus Christ.

This truth expresses a profound logic of divine love: God acts first, prepares, cares for, and brings grace forward. The mystery of the Immaculate Conception shows that the history of salvation is not improvised, but responds to a plan where human freedom and God's initiative meet.

The solemnity of December 8 helps us to better understand Mary's unique mission. Being full of grace from the beginning, her freedom was fully oriented toward God. This does not mean an absence of struggle or automatism, but rather the fullness of a life entirely open to the divine will. She thus becomes a model of what God dreams for each person: an existence marked by grace and availability.

El Arcángel san Gabriel, arrodillado con humildad ante la Virgen María en un pórtico, le anuncia que será la Madre de Dios.
"The Annunciation" (c. 1426) by Fra Angelico. Saint Gabriel is depicted as the sublime messenger of the Incarnation of the Word.

The Annunciation: the moment when the Immaculate Virgin reveals her mission

When contemplating the Immaculate Conception, the gaze naturally turns to the Annunciation. There, the angel Gabriel He greets Mary with words that confirm the mystery: «Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you.» Her fullness of grace is not a spiritual adornment, but the condition for the mission that God entrusts to her.

Mary's response—an unambiguous “yes”—is possible because her heart is not divided. Her complete freedom is the fruit of that divine preparation we celebrate on December 8. In this way, the Immaculate Conception illuminates God's entire plan: in Mary begins the new creation that Christ will bring to completion.

This perspective is especially valuable during Advent. As the Church awaits the coming of the Lord, she looks to Mary as a foretaste and model. In her, the future redemption already shines forth; in her, we already see what God can do when he finds an open heart.

A message for Christian life today

Celebrating the Immaculate Conception is not just about remembering a dogma.. It means embracing a message for daily life. Mary shows us that grace is not abstract: it transforms, sustains, and guides. Her life is an invitation to trust in God's action even when we do not understand all the details of the journey.

In a time marked by haste, superficiality, and the search for immediate certainties, the figure of the Immaculate Conception invites us to return to the center: to docility, listening, and openness to grace. Believers discover that true freedom is born when God occupies the first place.

Inspiration for the Church's Mission

The Immaculate Conception also inspires the Church's evangelizing mission. Mary, full of grace, is a source of hope and a model of dedication. That is why institutions dedicated to formation and priestly vocations—such as the CARF Foundation— find in this feast a shining example. The Church needs men and women who, like Mary, live in an attitude of availability, guided by grace and at the service of the mission.

The beauty of this mystery encourages us to continue building a holier Church, one that is closer and more capable of bringing the light of Christ to the world.

«In Loreto, I am especially indebted to Our Lady.»

Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer visited Loreto for the first time on January 3 and 4, 1948. But the reason why the founder of Opus Dei felt particularly indebted to Our Lady of Loreto was due to a very serious need that arose years later and was linked to the legal structure of the Work, for which he sought the protection of the Virgin Mary.

Account of the visits of the founder of Opus Dei to Loreto

«On the afternoon of January 3, Saint Josemaría and Don Álvaro del Portillo, Salvador Moret Bondía, and Ignacio Sallent Casas. They said the prayer in the courtyard of the House of Nazareth, inside the Shrine. Upon leaving the temple, the Father asked Don Álvaro:

—What did you say to the Virgin Mary?

«Do you want me to tell you?« And, at a gesture from the Father, he replied: "Well, I repeated what I always say, but as if it were the first time. I said to him: I ask of you what the Father asks of you.".

-I think what you said is very good. –St. Josemaría later told him. Repeat it many times.».

The feast of Our Lady of Loreto is celebrated on December 10. Photo: Vatican News.

The 1950s were years of great suffering for St. Josemaría, due to misunderstandings and conflicts. In the midst of these difficulties, he decided to go to Loreto to place himself under the protection of the Virgin Mary's mantle and caresses.

Consecration to the Most Sweet Heart of Mary: August 15, 1951

«On August 14, 1951, he decided to set out by road for Loreto," recounts writer Ana Sastre, "to be there on the 15th and consecrate Opus Dei to the Blessed Virgin. The heat was suffocating, and thirst would be felt throughout the journey. There was no highway. The road runs through valleys, climbs steeply up the Apennines, and descends in the last part until it reaches the Adriatic Sea.

According to a centuries-old tradition, since 1294 the Holy House of Nazareth has stood on the hill of Loreto, beneath the transept of the basilica built later. It is rectangular, with walls about four and a half meters high. One wall is modern, but the others, without foundations and blackened by candle smoke, are, according to tradition, those of the House of Nazareth. 

Its structure and the geological formation of the materials bear no resemblance to the characteristics of the ancient architecture of the area: it is perfectly analogous to the constructions that were built in Palestine twenty centuries ago: sandstone blocks, using lime as a binding agent.

The sanctuary stands on a hill covered with laurel trees, hence its name. They park in the central square and the priest quickly gets out of the car. For fifteen or twenty minutes, they lose sight of him among the crowds filling the basilica. Finally, he emerges, after greeting the Virgin Mary, smiling and cheerful. It is half past seven and they have to return to Ancona to spend the night.

«The next morning, before the sun rises, they return to the road. Despite the early hour, the sanctuary is packed. The Father dresses in the sacristy and advances toward the altar of the House of Nazareth to celebrate Mass. The small enclosure is crowded and the heat is stifling.

The Saint Mass and the consecration of Opus Dei

«Under the votive lamps, he wants to officiate the Liturgy with complete devotion. But he has not counted on the fervor of the crowd on this feast day: "While I was kissing the altar as prescribed by the rubrics of the Mass, three or four peasant women were kissing it at the same time. I was distracted, but I was moved.

I was also struck by the thought that in that Holy House—which tradition holds to be the place where Jesus, Mary, and Joseph lived—these words have been placed on the altar table: Here the Word became flesh. Here, in a house built by human hands, on a piece of the earth where we live, God dwelt" (Christ is Passing By, 12).

«During Mass, without any formula but with words full of faith, the Father performs the consecration of Opus Dei to the Lady. And then, speaking quietly to those beside him, he repeats it again on behalf of the whole of Opus Dei: 

basilica-de-la-santa-casa-loreto-consagracion-opus-dei
The founder of Opus Dei with Bishop Alvaro del Portillo in front of the Holy House.

An invocation to the Virgin Mary

"We consecrate ourselves and our lives to you; everything that is ours: what we love and what we are. To you we give our bodies, our hearts, and our souls; we are yours. And so that this consecration may be truly effective and lasting, we renew today at your feet, Lady, the commitment we made to God in Opus Dei. Instill in us a great love for Church and to Papa, and make us live fully submissive to all his teachings."(RHF 20755, p. 450).

The Father has left Rome Visibly tired. But when he returns, he seems renewed. As if every obstacle had just been pulverized in God's path. A few weeks ago, he suggested to his sons and daughters that they repeat an invocation to the Mother of Jesus over and over again. Sweetest Heart of Mary, make my journey safe!,Sweetest Heart of Mary, prepare a safe path for us!»

«The paths of Opus Dei will always be preceded by the smile and love of the Virgin Mary. Once again, the Founder has moved within the coordinates of faith. He provides the human means, but trusts in the decisive intervention from above. "God is the same as always. Men of faith are needed: and the wonders we read about in the Holy Scriptures will be renewed." Writing. Behold, the hand of the Lord is not shortened –The arm of God, his power, has not been diminished! (The Way, 586).

He went to the Holy House six more times: on November 7, 1953, May 12, 1955, May 8, 1960, April 22, 1969, May 8, 1969, and finally on April 22, 1971. On December 9, 1973, the eve of the feast of Our Lady of Loreto, she said, "All the images, all the names, all the invocations that the Christian people give to Saint Maria, I think they are wonderful. But in Loreto, I am especially indebted to Our Lady.".

The Legend of the Holy House of Loreto

The history of this Marian devotion revolves around the house where the Virgin Mary was born and lived with Jesus and Saint Joseph in Nazareth, Palestine.

The miracle: According to tradition, when the Crusaders lost control of Holy Land at 1291, The house was in danger of being destroyed. To save it, a group of angels lifted it into the air and carried it across the Mediterranean.

basilica-de-la-santa-casa-loreto-consagracion-opus-dei
Basilica of the Holy House.

The story of the journey tells that the house first flew to Croatia (Trsat), then crossed the Adriatic Sea to Italy (Ancona), and finally landed in December 10, 1294, in a forest of laurels (lauretum in Latin, from which the name Loreto derives).

From the perspective of various modern studies, some suggest that the Byzantine noble family Angeli (a surname meaning angels) financed and organized the transfer of the stones from the Holy House by boat to save them, giving rise to the beautiful legend of the angelic flight.

Why is Loreto a Black Virgin?

When you visit the shrine of Loreto or contemplate the images of many Marian devotions, Torreciudad, Montserrat... you notice that both the Virgin and the Child have dark skin. The most common cause of this very dark brown tone is that the wood took on this color over the years, mainly due to the smoke from candles and oil lamps inside the small Holy House.

In the case of Loreto, following a fire in 1921, a new image was carved using Lebanese cedar (a dark wood) and it was decided to retain the traditional black color that had made it so recognizable to pilgrims for centuries.

Loreto, patron saint of aviation

Due to the miraculous transfer of the Holy House from Palestine to Italy, the Pope Benedict XV proclaimed her the patron saint of universal aviation in 1920. In Spain, she is also the patron saint of the Air Force, the Sepla (Spanish Air Traffic Controllers' Association), and Space. Every December 10 is a big day at all Spanish air bases.

The Virgin of Loreto protects pilots and military personnel, but also air travelers and all flight personnel.

Nuestra-Senora-de-Loreto-Santander-Cantabria-Cantabria-Espana
4. Anthem: the Hail Aviator

In Spain, devotion is closely linked to this stirring hymn, which is sung at military and religious ceremonies:

«Hail, Mother, Hail, Queen of Heaven, of beauty a star, of purity the radiance; source of the purest love, our hope is in her, Hail, Mother, Hail, Queen of Heaven.

If our wings break at the end of our flight, before we reach the ground, may your arms open with love. Hail, Mother, Hail, Queen of Heaven.

Celebrations in Spain

In addition to traditional military celebrations, there are also very popular religious and civil celebrations: December 10 itself, which is the official liturgical holiday. It is celebrated in many parishes dedicated to Our Lady of Lore (such as Barajas in Madrid or on hills near airports).

As notable popular festivals in Jávea and Santa Pola, towns in Alicante, the festivals in honor of the Mother of God of Loreto are very important. Interestingly, in Jávea they are celebrated at the end of August and beginning of September, with the traditional Bulls to the Sea.

Saint Francis Xavier, life and mission of the giant of missions

Saint Francis Xavier He is one of the most prominent figures in the history of Christian evangelization, and each year his feast day reminds the Catholic Church that mission requires prior preparation, sending, and a truly universal vision.

His life, marked by total dedication, is naturally connected to the work carried out by institutions dedicated to priestly formation, such as the CARF Foundation. This relationship allows us to view his life not as an isolated historical episode, but as a living reference for the service that the Church provides throughout the world.

Castillo de Javier en Navarra, fortaleza medieval situada en el lugar de nacimiento de san Francisco Javier.
Javier Castle, in Navarre, is the place of his birth and one of the most striking places in his history.

The Life of Saint Francis Xavier

Francisco de Jasso Azpilicueta was born in 1506 in the Javier Castle, Navarre, into a noble family. From a young age, he stood out for his intellectual and athletic abilities, which opened the doors to the University of Paris, where he became a professor. There he experienced a decisive period for his vocation: his encounter with Íñigo de Loyola, his roommate and friend: Saint Ignatius.

At first, Francisco had no intention of orienting his life toward the religious life or missionary. His goal was to advance academically. However, Ignatius knew how to challenge him with a phrase that became a turning point: «What good is it to gain the whole world if you lose your soul?» Over time, that message transformed his priorities.

This inner change led him to join the founding nucleus of the Society of Jesus in 1534. That decision marked the beginning of a life devoted entirely to serving the Catholic Church throughout the world.

In 1541, at the request of the king of Portugal, the Society of Jesus was commissioned to send missionaries to the kingdom's Asian territories. Although Ignatius had initially considered other companions, circumstances led Francisco Javier to set sail for the East. He accepted without hesitation.

Map of the seven journeys of St. Francis Xavier between 1541 and 1552, with routes differentiated by colors indicating his travels through Africa, India, and Southeast Asia.

His arrival in Goa in 1542 marked the beginning of an unprecedented missionary period. Saint Francis Xavier traveled throughout India, Malacca, the Moluccas, and Japan, always with a clear approach: closeness to the people, learning languages, seeking cultural adaptation, and an attitude of constant listening. His dream was to reach China, but he died in 1552 on the island of Shangchuan, at the gateway to the continent.

His method, based on direct presence and understanding of the local context, laid the foundations for what the Church today recognizes as respectful and deeply human evangelization.

Javier understood that his vocation as a missionary was not an abstract idea, but a concrete task that required humility, study, and perseverance. His ability to move between different cultures, learn languages, understand societies, and love them meant that his inner fire (his love for Jesus Christ) led him to baptize more than thirty thousand people. It is said that sometimes he had to support one arm with the other because his strength failed him from administering the sacrament so often.

His apostolate also reached Europe through passionate and enthusiastic letters that inspired many other young people to become missionaries in the following centuries.

The mission of formation in the Church

One of the most important elements of his work was the training of catechists, the creation of Christian communities, and the preparation of local leaders who would ensure the continuity of the Catholic Church's evangelization. St. Francis Xavier knew that it was not enough to reach new territories: it was essential to train people capable of sustaining the faith in each community.

This emphasis makes his life a direct reference point for those who work today in the comprehensive training of priests. The CARF Foundation carries out work that also connects with the missionary vision of St. Francis Xavier: to train seminarians and diocesan priests with sufficient intellectual, human, and spiritual preparation to evangelize anywhere in the world.

Each year, the Foundation supports seminarians and priests from more than 130 countries, many of them from places where the Church is growing, where resources are scarce, or where pastoral challenges are great. This diversity reflects the universality that St. Francis Xavier embodied during his life as a giant of the missions.

Saint Francis Xavier is known as the man who transformed the missions into a global adventure. His eagerness to save souls led him to never stop, and he always sought to go further. For all these reasons, the Catholic Church named him Universal Patron of Missions (alongside Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, although for reasons different from hers).

Young people studying with the support of the CARF Foundation are trained for their home diocese and to serve the universal Church. They learn to engage in dialogue with different cultures, to understand complex social realities, and to support communities where, often, the priest is the only educational or social reference point.

Just as St. Francis Xavier knew that the mission needed well-trained people, the CARF Foundation helps parishes, dioceses, and mission territories to have solidly trained priests. All of these students return to their countries, where the figure of the priest is essential for education, spiritual guidance, community stability, and the transmission of the faith.

From a human perspective, which is difficult to explain, what is most striking about the life of Saint Francis Xavier was the sheer physical magnitude of his work. In the 16th century, without modern means of transportation, he traveled some 100,000 kilometers. kilometers (equivalent to circling the globe more than twice). It is rightly called the giant of missions.

If anything characterized the life of St. Francis Xavier, it was his global vision and his ability to break new ground. The mission of the CARF Foundation replicates his geographical adventure from its very essence: to create conditions for faith to reach where it is most needed, in an orderly, profound, and forward-looking manner.