Vatican City: Pope Leo XIV reaffirmed the timeless harmony between faith and reason, emphasizing that the two are not adversaries but complementary forces guiding humanity toward truth. In a written message to the International Congress of Philosophy held at the Universidad Católica “Nuestra Señora de la Asunción” in Asuncion, Paraguay, the Holy Father urged Christian philosophers to engage in sincere dialogue with contemporary thought while remaining rooted in faith.
The Pope praised the congress for fostering “encounter, diagnosis, dialogue, and projection,” noting that such engagement reflects the Church’s mission to bridge intellectual traditions with divine revelation. He challenged the long-held skepticism among some believers who view philosophy as incompatible with faith.
Quoting St. Augustine, Pope Leo reminded participants: “Whoever thinks that philosophy must be avoided altogether is simply insisting that we should not love wisdom.” The Pope urged believers to approach philosophy not with fear but as a field for encounter an opportunity to share the Christian understanding of truth and to engage with those who do not share the faith.
Echoing the great theologians of Christian tradition, Pope Leo reaffirmed that faith and reason enrich and elevate each other. “We must not see rational reflection as a threat to the purity of faith,” he said. “Rather, through authentic dialogue, philosophical thought becomes a privileged space for meeting those who have not yet received the gift of faith.”
The Pope cautioned against reducing philosophy to mere apologetics, insisting that its deeper role is to help humanity uncover meaning, moral clarity, and the beauty of creation. “The good that a believing philosopher can accomplish,” he wrote, “is immense both through the witness of their life and through what the Apostle Peter encourages us to do: ‘Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you.’”
Pope Leo also reflected on the risks of rationalism detached from faith. While philosophy can elevate the human intellect to great heights, he warned, it can also fall into pessimism, relativism, and misanthropy when separated from divine grace. True wisdom, he said, is measured not by intellectual brilliance but by conformity to truth and openness to God’s illumination.
“Not everything labeled as rational or philosophical possesses the same value,” he noted. “Its fruitfulness is measured by its conformity with the truth of being and its openness to the grace that enlightens every intellect.”
The Pontiff called on Christian thinkers to be “living reminders of the authentic philosophical vocation” those who pursue wisdom with humility, reason with integrity, and believe that all truth ultimately leads to God.
Drawing from the legacy of Saint Justin Martyr, Saint Bonaventure, and Saint Thomas Aquinas, Pope Leo emphasized that Christianity has always united reason and faith in the search for truth. Citing Fides et Ratio, Saint John Paul II’s 1998 encyclical, he reaffirmed that “the intimate bond between theological wisdom and philosophical knowledge is one of the most original treasures of the Christian tradition.”
Pope Leo concluded his message with a vision of hope: a world in which philosophy and faith together reveal the dignity of the human person and the moral clarity of divine truth. “With genuine empathy for all,” he wrote, “we must offer our contribution so that the noble task of philosophizing may reveal the dignity of the human being created in the image of God, and lead to the Creator and Redeemer.”
In today’s fragmented intellectual climate, Pope Leo XIV’s message serves as a powerful reminder: faith and reason are not separate paths but two wings lifting the human spirit toward wisdom and God.