Rome, 22 Oct. (LaPresse) – “Quite a few young people today are paralysed by the fear of making mistakes, of not measuring up, of being misunderstood, of failing to live up to expectations. We live in a performance-driven culture that constantly compares and ranks people, sometimes in a ruthless manner. A misguided meritocracy ends up failing to respect people. This is why many end up giving up before they have even tried.” So said Pope Leo XIV as he received in audience the participants at the International Congress on School and University Pastoral Care. “Help the young people you meet to be protagonists of a new way of living in the world, builders of fraternity and of a more just society. Courage springs from a pact of trust: from the experience of someone who believes in you before you believe in yourself,” was the Holy Father’s appeal to teachers and those in charge of universities and schools. “Beneath the armour that so many adolescents build up to avoid suffering lies the desire to love and be loved,” he emphasised.
Pope Leo XIV: “A distorted meritocracy and the fear of making mistakes are paralysing young people”
Rome, 22 Oct. (LaPresse) – “Quite a few young people today are paralysed by the fear of making mistakes, of not measuring up, of being misunderstood, of failing to live up to expectations. We live in a performance-driven culture that constantly compares and ranks people, sometimes in a ruthless manner. A misguided meritocracy ends up failing to respect people. This is why many end up giving up before they have even tried.” So said Pope Leo XIV as he received in audience the participants at the International Congress on School and University Pastoral Care. “Help the young people you meet to be protagonists of a new way of living in the world, builders of fraternity and of a more just society. Courage springs from a pact of trust: from the experience of someone who believes in you before you believe in yourself,” was the Holy Father’s appeal to teachers and those in charge of universities and schools. “Beneath the armour that so many adolescents build up to avoid suffering lies the desire to love and be loved,” he emphasised.