Address at UNESCO Headquarters

I am pleased to be with you today in this international assembly, where languages and cultures come together to cooperate in an undertaking of great importance for the entire human family: “to contribute to peace and security by promoting collaboration among the nations through education, science and culture in order to further universal respect for justice, for the rule of law and for… human rights and fundamental freedoms” (UNESCO Constitution, art. 1, par. 1). The effort to build a just world is in fact the basis of international cooperation. We share our experiences, skills and expertise in order to create an environment in which all feel at home and each individual may flourish, so that peoples everywhere may be at peace and prosper.

It is precisely as a witness to peace that I greet each of you, the Representatives of Member and Observer States, International Organizations, and the worlds of academia and civil society. I thank Mr Khaled El-Enany, Director-General of this Organization, for his gracious invitation [and for his kind words]. I have come as a Pastor, to speak to you on behalf of the Church, which continually seeks to enter into dialogue and has a message to share with every people, with all women and men of good will (cf. Paul VI, Encyclical Letter Ecclesiam Suam, 65).

The commitment to building a just world is part of a mission we have learned to share in the course of history. In our time, UNESCO represents both an objective and a means for pursuing that commitment with greater determination, in accordance with our diverse fields of activity. The year 2027 will mark the 75th anniversary of the Holy See’s presence at UNESCO, a presence grounded in the conviction that the future depends first and foremost on the need to respect and promote the inalienable dignity inherent in every man and woman created in God’s image. Consequently, we look upon this Organization as a privileged partner in the service of the common good, which is the “social expression of the dignity” shared by all of us from the very beginning and in equal measure (cf. Encyclical Letter Magnifica Humanitas, 59). Since 1952, the Holy See’s Permanent Observer Mission has examined and accompanied UNESCO’s initiatives from this standpoint, offering its specific contribution to the dialogue among nations. It has done so with the aim of favoring authentic human development, which is such only when it is directed to fostering “the development of each man and of the whole man” (Paul VI, Encyclical Letter Populorum Progressio, 14).

Speaking to this assembly, my venerable predecessor Saint John Paul II observed that “genus humanum arte et ratione vivit.” Consequently, “man lives a truly human life thanks to culture.”^{1Address to UNESCO, 2 June 1980. Cf. Thomas Aquinas, In Aristotelis Posteriora Analytica, 1.}[] The word itself — culture — implies the process by which humanity bestows meaning upon all its activities. Now, forty-six years later, as I renew, in your presence, the Holy See’s commitment to cooperation, I encourage you to see UNESCO not only as a distinguished international organization, but also as a place where humanity can reflect on itself, on its history and on its future. Indeed, promoting education, science and culture is impossible without at the same time improving the lives of men and women who are engaged in these activities.

In the field of education, the Catholic Church is heir to an ancient tradition. For centuries, her communities have founded schools and universities, taught people to read and write, and have been present even in the poorest and most remote places. With the Global Compact on Education, my predecessor Pope Francis sought to make this experience part of a broader educational covenant, open to the contribution of all. What I would like to speak about with you, however, is not primarily the efforts that are made, but rather the conviction from which they spring. No education can be considered complete if it fails to address the question of life’s meaning. In the same address mentioned above, Saint John Paul II noted that to educate means to help people to “be” more and not merely to “have” more, and to acknowledge in them that transcendence of the person which is part of the fullness of their humanity (cf. ibid., 10–11).

In this assembly, then, a fundamental question deserves to be explored, one that urgently calls for a response: What does it mean to be human? Every culture is challenged by this question, which lies at the heart of every form of knowledge, every art and every religion. Even in the twenty-first century, after all, we cannot take for granted that we know who the human person is or what it means to live as a human being. Indeed, every generation is called to grapple with this question, especially in the face of tragedies that, regrettably, occur even today.

Before all else, the human person is someone who is conceived and born. Thus, first of all, to be human means to be a child. None of us chose to be so. None of us decided from whom, when or where to be born. This evident truth sheds light on something that is not merely biological but ethical: as children, we are all brothers and sisters. From the outset, our humanity is a gift and a trial, a promise and a responsibility. For every human being, birth establishes a primordial bond — a communion of life that has its source, and its first educational setting, in the family.

Secondly, we are all born naked and in need. We are poor by birth, in need of bread and words, of care and affection — that is, of all that nourishes body and spirit. We know this well, and yet, as we become adults, we risk forgetting it. It is precisely those in need who suffer the greatest consequences of this forgetfulness, whenever their humanity is betrayed or cast aside, exploited or deceived. Forgetting the circumstances of our birth obscures the very idea of human life, because it detaches life from the history common to us all. Thus, life is no longer understood as a gift, but as a commodity. It is no longer viewed as a summons to care and responsibility, but as a product to be exploited. Indeed, this tragic alternative reminds us that to be human is to be free by nature. Since all of us have been children, our freedom begins with our response to the freedom of the one who first turns to us — whether with gestures of affection or rejection, of loving welcome or neglect and cruelty.

Thirdly, to keep alive the memory of our common humanity is to recognize its grandeur — that is, its immense potential — even though it is diminished by many forms of evil and injustice. Those engaged in the fields of education, science and culture are called all the more to care for every person, so that the beauty of our freedom may shine forth. This beauty has a name: justice. Freedom is indeed beautiful when it is oriented toward goodness and truth; it is disfigured when it descends into arbitrariness, violence or the thirst for power. To be human, then, implies a responsibility before history: the human being is one who grows, learns and works with both hands and mind. By that labor, we may cultivate the earth or disfigure it, create works of art or destroy them. At this particular juncture, we must recognize that the most terrible of “human works” is war, for then science itself is placed at the service of an inhumane will to destroy and to kill.

In this regard, the Preamble of the Constitution of UNESCO opens with words that retain a striking relevance today — as we saw at the “Wall of Peace” — “Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed” (Constitution of UNESCO, Preamble, 1945). These words were written in the aftermath of the Second World War, the most devastating tragedy of the past century. Humanity had come to realize that scientific progress, when severed from wisdom, can turn into a weapon of destruction; that culture, when subjected to ideology, can degenerate into falsehood and propaganda; and that education, when it abandons the truth, can become an instrument for manipulating consciences. The founding States of UNESCO understood that treaties are necessary, but not sufficient in themselves. They require a culture of peace and a shared commitment to peace, which sustain them. Peace cannot be built by treaties alone, nor by compromises between opposing forces. Peace is genuine when it springs from the virtue of justice rather than from a mere contract, and from an upright will rather than from an unstable balance of interests. Indeed, only an upright will can recognize in the other a brother or sister, a person like oneself.

Eighty years later, the words of your founding Charter have lost none of their force. Yet we also see how profoundly this common principle is threatened by forms of barbarity that fuel rivalry and conflict. Among the challenges facing the worlds of science and education today, I would draw particular attention to those arising from the vast field of technology. Our efforts in this domain must ensure that new technologies remain at the service of the human person, rather than becoming yet another instrument of domination and injustice.

Over the centuries, many tasks once performed by human beings have been entrusted to machines, whose capabilities and applications have continued to expand. More recently, certain artificial systems have even been given the name of our human faculty of thought: intelligence. At the same time, however, our ideas and relationships risk being impoverished by a process of dehumanization. The paradox has become increasingly evident: while “intelligence” is attributed to computational systems, we struggle to recognize the inalienable dignity of human persons, whose lives are judged according to the criterion of efficiency and, when deemed no longer productive, are rejected and discarded.

This painful reality invites us to reflect both on the fragility of our human nature and on the immense dignity of every human person — a dignity that remains undiminished even in the most vulnerable circumstances, even to death itself. The human being is certainly one who is born, but also one who dies. Our dignity is not destroyed by illness or suffering, nor is it dependent upon our abilities. Rather, it calls for loving care at every stage of life.

For the Christian faith, the mystery of the human person finds its fullest light in Christ, who, “in the very revelation of the mystery of the Father and of his love, fully reveals humanity to itself and brings to light its very high calling” (SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 22). In his light, every person appears to us as a creature willed and loved by God. This light also helps us to grasp more deeply the meaning of our shared human experience.

Ladies and Gentlemen, as men and women of science, you are called to cooperate unremittingly in the name of our common history, so that, from a diversity of perspectives, a convergence of vision may emerge, and from this convergence, a harmony of action. This harmony is expressed in the work of UNESCO when it gives a symphonic voice to the highest aspirations for the good and the care of humanity. Where there is harmony, different voices find agreement, and the nations you represent are thus brought together in concord.

In this regard, I would like to appeal to two images from the Bible, the great cultural treasury of humanity. They are the tower of Babel and the public square of Pentecost. I offer them as ways of representing the unity of the human family, which, even today, is continually called to discern its proper direction and the meaning of the history in which it is immersed. These biblical narratives portray two forms of life in society that invite us to reflect upon the circumstances of our own time.

The tower of Babel represents a unity imposed through domination (cf. Gen 11:4). At the same time, this edifice reveals that the more power seeks to oppress, the more it weakens itself, exposing its inhumane face. We see this in the suffering and injustice caused by despotism, as well as in forms of exploitation that damage both society and the environment. As history teaches us, many empires have reveled in their power before being consumed by it and collapsing like a tower. The outcome of this pride, exalted and then brought low, is dispersion. The presumption of making oneself like God and subjecting peoples to a single yoke leads to a confusion of languages and a failure to understand one another. Instead of reaching heaven, as it presumed to do, the tower of Babel collapsed, with a twofold negative result. Since the unity it imposed was forced, the diversity that followed its collapse turned into a source of conflict. Today, the temptation of Babel reappears in a globalization pursued without fraternity, in rapacious forms of neocolonialism, in ideological impositions and in all those “contacts without bonds” that reduce human life to commerce (cf. INTERNATIONAL THEOLOGICAL COMMISSION, Quo Vadis, Humanitas?, 42). Science itself, when reduced to a technique of power, no longer serves to elevate the human person, but instead risks degrading the fruits of human endeavor.

Today, in particular, we possess the means to connect people and continents instantaneously, yet, at the same time, we are witnessing new forms of isolation, material and spiritual poverty, and abandonment. Communication has become much faster, but not necessarily more truthful. Information is abundant, but it is not synonymous with wisdom. Without a shared ethical foundation, the many channels of communication risk multiplying false information and giving currency to words devoid of meaning, thereby hindering dialogue rather than fostering it.

Artificial intelligence amplifies this problem. Although such systems can correlate data, they cannot answer questions that concern the meaning of human life, which is rooted in lived experience. Yet human beings cannot live without meaning. Meaning is the oxygen of the mind. For this reason, the challenges of communication, which are always challenges of education as well, make the search for truth a matter of social justice and historical equity. That is why education in this area is essential, and I welcome UNESCO’s initiative through its Media and Information Literacy (MIL) program, which promotes the responsible use of media and digital tools.

Indeed, without truth, language becomes subject to the logic of violence and to the arbitrary will of the powerful. Others are then excluded in the name of profit, and the innocent are killed in the name of freedom. Instead of respecting the law, those in power invoke it when it serves their interests and disregard it when it restrains them, treating even justice itself as though it were a commodity to be bought and sold. If we realize that the corruption of the law begins with the corruption of the heart, we can recognize how every science risks losing its proper meaning when pursued without ethics, and thus ceasing to serve and reflect human dignity.

In this regard, I encourage the international community as a whole to devote particular attention to the protection of children and young people. In the digital age, their vulnerability must never become an opportunity for exploitation. May these technologies support their growth, education and relationships, safeguarding their freedom to think and discern, and always remaining at the service of the dignity of the human person.

The corruption of culture which we are considering finds its redemption in the public square of Pentecost. There, a message of peace is received as good news by people of every nation. This message proclaims the resurrection of Jesus, that is, the victory of life over death and the salvation that gives hope to the world. On the day of Pentecost, the public square becomes a place where the peace that heals every offence against the human person is celebrated. Each one present heard the message “in his own native language” (cf. Acts 2:8). Communion in no way suppresses diversity. Rather, it enables diversity to flourish in the harmony of voices and faces. In the proclamation of peace, the richness of cultures becomes a bearer of a universal truth. Biblical teaching thus shows us the way to achieve what we all seek: “that unity which does not cancel out differences but values the personal history of each person and the social and religious culture of every people” (Homily at the Mass for the Beginning of the Pontificate, 18 May 2025). It is not the domination of Babel, but the peace of Pentecost, that makes such communion among all peoples possible. Every culture, therefore, realizes its highest wisdom when it seeks peace and the good of all, bearing witness to the authentic meaning of our humanity.

Those engaged in education know that only the truth sets us free. Those who teach and those who conduct research know that error enslaves us to ignorance and superstition. Whenever we encounter obstacles to our mission, let us remember that there is one earth for all and a common human nature. The human being cannot be understood by separating what belongs together: body and soul, personal life and relationships, our relationship with others and with the environment. All form part of the unity of our existence. For this reason, cultivating the earth also means cultivating the humanity that inhabits it. Education and science are called to this task. Indeed, it is no coincidence that every culture, according to the very etymology of the word, is an act of cultivation. I therefore renew the appeal of my predecessors to care together for the human person and for creation: Pope Benedict XVI spoke of the need for an ecology of the human person, while Pope Francis developed the perspective of integral ecology (cf. Benedict XVI, Address to the Bundestag, 22 September 2011; Francis, Encyclical Letter Laudato Si’, 137–162).

The touchstone by which we can assess our commitment is the care we show for the littlest and for the poor: children in their mothers’ wombs andin the various theaters of war, persons with physical and intellectual disabilities, the elderly, migrants refugees, and all those arrogantly excluded as unproductive. They are the true test of our claims to respect human dignity, and their protection and promotion extend also to creation. Opposed to this is a will to exploit and plunder, extracting as much as possible from every living being, consuming without safeguarding, destroying without cultivating. Thus, the present ecological crisis is an anthropological crisis; moreover, the Church is convinced that every culture bears within itself a wisdom that matures in an ecosystem of peoples. The human person’s habitat is society — not a merely physical environment, such as the desert or the ocean for animals, but a moral and relational one. Where social peace prevails, peoples flourish in justice.

Here the lofty educational and scientific missions of UNESCO find their ultimate goal: in the persevering work of peacemaking. Amid the many complex and pressing issues of the present time, our world regards international institutions with mixed feelings. On the one hand, these institutions are expected to respond to challenges that no individual State can face alone. On the other hand, these same institutions are experiencing a crisis of effectiveness, especially in situations where dialogue is seen as an obstacle to action rather than a resource for peace, a charade rather than an opportunity to seek the common good together. In this case, we see the urgent need to promote a virtue that seems as greatly desired as it is rarely found, namely the virtue of trust. Trust that differences do not necessarily constitute a threat; trust that honest dialogue can bring about a greater good than what individuals could achieve on their own. The Holy See wishes to increase this trust in UNESCO, as well as other international organizations, in the realization that every people has its own precious part to play in the pursuit of that authentic human progress which peace alone can guarantee. This is not to embrace a naive optimism that ignores difficulties, but rather to persevere in the hope that the desired good is always attainable. Every child born into this world brings new hope. Every person who devotes his or her life to the pursuit of truth is performing an act of hope. May UNESCO, for its part, bear witness to this hope by fostering understanding among nations through dialogue between their respective cultures. For we are convinced that education is the way to overcoming mutual distrust and that science can be at the service of every human being, sowing seeds today that will bear an abundant harvest in the future. This trust strengthens our hope in charity, in commitment to the good of our neighbor. For if all of us are firmly committed to the grandeur of our common humanity, peace can finally flourish.

As we cooperate in this work, religious traditions have a culturally necessary and irreplaceable role to play. Religions voice our questions regarding the origin of life and its purpose. They deal with the ultimate meaning of our lives, which is reflected in our daily decisions. When men and women of good will direct their actions toward God, in his light their cultural differences do not dissipate into the chaos of Babel. Instead, they find themselves united in a shared search for meaning and directed toward a destiny which is not death. We are not journeying toward oblivion. That is why the human spirit, in its relationship with God, senses all the more keenly the call to cultivate peace through a covenant among peoples who realize that they are children of the same Father, brothers and sisters to one another.

It is my hope that our meeting today will confirm all of us in our efforts to foster a more lively, profound and effective consciousness of our membership in the one human family. In this regard, I wish to express my deep gratitude to the entire staff of UNESCO, who carry out with competence and dedication its noble mission of promoting peace through the cultivation of every human art and science.

I address these considerations to all of you, to the peoples whom you represent, and, in a special way, to young people. Indeed, it is the younger generations who observe our actions most closely. In expressing my support for their aspirations for justice, with gratitude and esteem I invoke upon all of you and upon your countries the abundant blessings of God, the almighty and merciful Creator. Thank you.