In addressing you, dear scholarship holders, I wish to recall a history that lies not only behind you, but also before you: that of your Catholic University of the Sacred Heart.

It was born ‘from the grassroots’, from the courage and vision of men and women such as Blessed Giuseppe Toniolo, Father Agostino Gemelli and Blessed Armida Barelli, supported by the active faith of a people. It was not the work of a few, but a true opus totius Ecclesiae: a community that sought to give shape, within culture, to a living, thinking presence capable of making its mark on history.

That same responsibility now passes to you.

In a fully global age, your commitment renews that founding impetus: you are called to be present where ideas are formed and decisions are shaped that concern the destiny of peoples. Yours is not merely a path of excellence: it is a mission. You are not asked to stand out, but to serve. Not to assert yourselves, but to make fruitful what you have received.

“May you disappear so that Christ may remain”: these words do not diminish, but liberate. They free you from the pursuit of consensus, so that you may be rooted in truth; they free you from appearances, so that you may devote yourselves to the substance of goodness.

Cherish, therefore, the legacy entrusted to you by the Catholic University. You, who are a living part of that university community, support the University so that it may flourish in communion and continue to fulfil the educational mission entrusted to it – a mission which has borne great fruit in you, including for the benefit of the Holy See’s diplomatic efforts.

May the diversity of ecclesial sensibilities that constitute it not become competition, but harmony; may difference not become distance, but shared richness. A divided community weakens. A united community becomes history.

“In Illo uno unum”: it is in Christ that you find the unity which makes every endeavour fruitful. Only in this way can the Catholic University continue to be a true common home, a university for all Italian Catholics, a credible sign of a Church that lives by communion and makes it visible.

I commit a prayer to the Toniolo Institute, that it may continue to safeguard this bond with wisdom and fidelity, accompanying the University’s journey with vigilance and a spirit of service at this decisive time.

I also express my heartfelt gratitude to all those who support this work. Just as the dedication of Catholic Action, promoted by Blessed Armida in all Italian parishes through the University Day – the 102nd anniversary of which falls tomorrow – was decisive at the outset, so today the contribution of so many is providential: in particular, this project, which is so important for the work of the Representations of the Holy See in the International Organizations, owes a debt of gratitude to the generosity of the Arvedi-Buschini Foundation. To them goes our heartfelt appreciation, together with a sincere prayer.

But it is above all in the lives of you, the scholarship holders, that this gift must become visible. What you have received must not remain a privilege: let it become a responsibility. Let it not remain a title: let it become a way of life.

Be a living presence in the Church in the places where you work, In international institutions, in diplomacy, in organizations, in the world of work. Be men and women who build bridges, while others raise walls.

Be credible in the silence of deeds, rather than visible in your words.

Be a sign, not merely a presence.

This is how this story will continue.

And this is how, through you too, the Toniolo Fellowship Programme and the entire Catholic University will continue to shape the future for many years to come.

I assure you of my prayers and impart my Apostolic Blessing upon you all.

From the Vatican, 18 April 2026

LEO PP. XIV

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Holy See Press Office Bulletin, 18 April 2026