Pope Leo XIV: Why faith remains incomplete without culture

For Pope Leo XIV, faith and science are not opposites. At the General Audience on Wednesday, October 28, he called for the promotion of education, cultural exchange and lifelong learning. His appeal: whoever wants to communicate the Gospel credibly must unite faith and knowledge.

No faith without culture

At the General Audience on St. Peter's Square, Pope Leo continued his catechesis series on the Second Vatican Council's pastoral constitution "Gaudium et spes." This time, the focus was on the relationship between culture and the Christian faith. The pontiff emphasized that education and science have always played an important role for the Church.

The Catholic Church has always sought to combine the proclamation of the Gospel with educational initiatives. The goal, Leo explained, is to foster the human, cultural and spiritual development of people worldwide. The medieval universities, too, emerged from within the sphere of the Church and significantly shaped Western civilization.

At the same time, the Pope stressed that scientific and cultural progress can help raise anew the fundamental questions of life. It helps, he said, “to open the mind to the eternal questions about the meaning of the world and of human existence,” thereby fostering a readiness to engage with the message of Jesus Christ.

Faith must come alive in everyday life

The connection between faith and culture is rooted in God's incarnation, Pope Leo emphasized. The Gospel must not remain detached from people's lived reality, but must become visible in their thinking, actions and cultural expressions.

To this end, the Pope quoted his predecessor John Paul II, who had already stated in 1982: “A faith that does not become culture is a faith that has not been fully received, not thoroughly thought through, and not faithfully lived.”

Christian faith must therefore prove itself in everyday life, shape relationships, and find expression in concrete love of neighbor. At the same time, Christianity must not be confined to any particular culture. Rather, the Gospel can take root in different societies and ways of life without losing its central message.

The Church is therefore called to embrace the positive elements of various cultures and use them for proclamation. It draws on “the good, the beautiful and the true from the various cultures,” Leo summarized, in order to convey the message of the Gospel in a living way.

Making education accessible to all

Education must not be the privilege of a few, but must be open to all people. Referring to the Second Vatican Council, Pope Leo stressed that illiteracy and educational deficits must be overcome. Access to universities, too, should be open to all who bring the necessary qualifications.

At the same time, the Pope called on Christians to deepen both their scientific knowledge and their knowledge of the faith equally. Theology in particular must seek dialogue with other sciences. The goal is to connect different fields of knowledge with one another and to keep open the view toward the great questions of life.

The Council therefore recommends “directing teaching toward a certain unity of knowledge,” Leo explained. Christians in particular are called to realize this connection first of all in their own lives. Faith does not exempt them from ongoing intellectual and cultural engagement. Rather, scientific knowledge and understanding of the faith must grow together.

A mature union of faith and culture is crucial for a responsible Christian life, the Pope emphasized. It is also an important prerequisite for bearing credible witness to one's own faith and conveying it convincingly to others.