Pope Francis warns about spiritual Coca-Cola

Pope Francis visited the Pontifical Gregorian University, an institution entrusted to the Society of Jesus and the oldest among the Roman pontifical universities, to open the Academic Year within the framework of the recent incorporation of the Pontifical Biblical Institute and the Pontifical Oriental Institute.

At the beginning of the event, the rector of the University, Fr. Mark Lewis SJ, recalled that bishops and cardinals such as the Nicaraguan Mons. Rolando Álvarez have studied here, “who preaches the Gospel with courage and remains in solidarity with his priests, his flock and all those who have been deprived of their human rights.”

After these words of welcome, Pope Francis addressed the teachers to reflect on the role that the Gregorian University must play today, fulfilling the charisma and legacy of Saint Ignatius of Loyola and with the mission that “the bishops of Rome “They have continued to trust the Society of Jesus over time.”

“Disciples of spiritual Coca-Cola”

In an extensive speech, the Holy Father urged those present to avoid closing in on themselves and thus carry out “a rethinking of everything,” valuing what is being experienced both in the world and in the Church, “in view of the mission that the Lord Jesus has entrusted us” since, he assured, “when one worries only about not stumbling, one ends up falling.”

“Have you asked yourself the question of where you are going and why you are doing the things you are doing? It is necessary to know where one is going, without losing sight of the horizon that unites each person’s path with the current and ultimate goal,” said Pope Francis.

He then coined a new term and indicated that this “vision and awareness of the end” prevent the “coca-lization” of spirituality, lamenting that there are many “disciples of spiritual Coca-Cola.” Pope Francis used this metaphor to invite greater depth and to live a spirituality that is not fleeting.

Put your heart into training action

Taking as a reference the Jesuit Saint Francis Xavier, who advocated charity and service to others in the face of those who only possessed knowledge, Pope Francis stressed the need to “be missionaries out of love for our brothers and sisters and to be available to the call of the Mister”.

Along these lines, he asked to avoid “the pretensions that make God’s project bureaucratic, rigid and without warmth, superimposing agendas and ambitions on the plans of providence.”

He also invited people to avoid the ego and put “the heart” in the formative action, so that it does not become a “dry intellectualism or a perverse narcissism.” “When the heart is missing, it is seen,” he remarked.

Citing his recent encyclical Dilexit Us, Pope Francis wanted to highlight the evidence that “the heart is the place of departure and arrival of every relationship” and encouraged those present to return to the path of the original mission of the Gregorian University, established in 1551 in a “modest house.” which was called Roman College.

He thus insisted on his invitation to “humanize the knowledge of faith” and apply his Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudiumemphasizing that students “have the need to discover the power of fantasy, of inspiration” and also to make contact “with their own emotions and know how to explain their own feelings.”

In this way, the Pontiff continued, one learns to be oneself, measuring oneself according to the capacity of each one, without avoiding “the freedom of decision, extinguishing the joy of discovery” and depriving oneself of the opportunity to make mistakes. “You learn from mistakes,” he stressed.

Gratuity opens us to God’s surprises

He encouraged the members of the Pontifical University to resume the “gratuity” with which Saint Ignatius of Loyola founded the center, so that everyone becomes “servants without bosses,” recognizing dignity and that no one is excluded. “It is gratuitousness that opens us to the surprises of God, which is mercy,” he added.

The Holy Father asked for a University with “the smell of the people’s flesh,” that promotes the imagination and reveals the being of the God of love, “who always takes the first step in a world that seems to have lost its heart.”

Later, the Holy Father reiterated that “to win you have to lose,” while lamenting that the “world is on fire” due to the “madness of war, which covers every hope with the shadow of death.”

“We have the need to recover the path of an incarnate theology, that resurrects hope, of a philosophy that knows how to encourage the desire to touch the hem of Jesus’ mantle, to peer into the limits of the mystery,” he noted.

Open the look of the heart

He also exhorted to “open the gaze of the heart”, to seek unity in diversity with the exchange of gifts and to carry out a greater study of Eastern traditions. He asked to avoid the abstract ideas that are born on desks and to promote “contact with the life of people, the symbols of cultures and the cries of suffering of the poor.” “Touch this meat, walk in the mud and get your hands dirty,” he emphasized.

For the Holy Father, this University must be “an instrument of the Church’s mission” in dialogue with humanity”, where it does not look “from top to bottom” and hierarchy is avoided, so that its members exercise humility. and everyone is taken into account.

He also asked to maintain a dialogue with tradition, being “compassionate with the present and respectful of the past,” in order to fulfill the mission of “carrying on your shoulders the history of faith, wisdom, and suffering of all times, walking in the present on fire that needs your help.”

Pope Francis once again urged to keep the roots of the Society of Jesus alive and insisted that, to serve God, “everything must be brought back to the end for which we were created.”

He also invited constant discernment that allows purifying intentions and not “clinging to the rules,” keeping a doctrine alive and not turning it “prisoner” within a museum.

The origin of the Pontifical Gregorian University

The origins of the Pontifical Gregorian University date back to the direct initiative of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus, who in 1551 established the Roman College, also known as the Universitas omnium Nationum, at the service of the universal Church.

In 1873, Pope Pius IX ordered that the university officially adopt the new name of Pontifical Gregorian University. In 1930 its current headquarters was inaugurated in Plaza de la Pilotta.

As of May 19, 2024, two other institutions entrusted to the Society of Jesus, the Pontifical Biblical Institute and the Pontifical Oriental Institute, have been definitively incorporated into the Gregorian, as requested by Pope Francis.

Currently, it has 2,952 students of 121 nationalities, who delve into disciplines such as Theology, Philosophy, Eastern Ecclesiastical Sciences, Canon Law, Psychology and Anthropology, among others, also offering an academic proposal that covers both the tradition of the Latin Church and the of the Eastern Catholic Churches.