Vatican City: Pope Leo XIV has urged theologians to broaden their intellectual horizons by engaging with every branch of human knowledge, saying that such dialogue is essential for addressing the complex challenges confronting both the Church and the wider world.
Meeting the members of the International Theological Commission on Wednesday during their plenary session in Rome, the Pope expressed gratitude for their ongoing contribution to the Churchâs theological development. He recalled that the Commission established in 1969 by Pope St. Paul VI was created to help guide post-Vatican II theological renewal.
Pope Leo praised their latest study marking the 1,700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea, calling the work an âauthoritative documentâ and noting its particular relevance ahead of his upcoming Apostolic Journey to TĂźrkiye, where he will visit the historic site of the Council.
Encouraging the theologians to persevere in their mission, the Pope said they are called to discern the ânew realitiesâ emerging in the life of both the Church and the human family. These developments, he stressed, require a creative yet faithful proclamation of the Gospel, which was entrusted to humanity âonce for allâ through Christ.
The Pope underlined the Commissionâs key role in offering theological insight and interpretive tools to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and to bishops around the worldâan effort that strengthens the unity and vitality of the Church.
He then invited the members to approach their work with methodological rigor while embracing three guiding attitudes. First, he said, theological research must always reflect the universality of the faith, enriched by the diverse cultural and spiritual experiences of local Churches across continents.
Second, theologians should collaborate across disciplines, he said, since interdisciplinary work offers more accurate and compelling ways to articulate the faith for a global audience.
Third, he encouraged them to draw inspiration from the great Doctors of the Church, including St. Augustine, St. Bonaventure, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. ThÊrèse of Lisieux, and St. John Henry Newman. In these figures, the Pope noted, study was inseparably linked to prayer a reminder that theology is not mere academic analysis but a living encounter with Revelation.
He insisted that only lives modeled on the Gospel can render the Churchâs witness credible: theology, as scientia fidei a science of faith must contemplate, interpret, and radiate Christâs transforming light in every age.
Reflecting on Pope Benedict XVIâs concerns, Pope Leo warned against the growing fragmentation of knowledge and the tendency of some human sciences to distance themselves from metaphysical inquiry. Such intellectual isolation, he said, harms not only science but also human development.
âFaith illuminates every faculty,â he concluded, âand there is no field of study that theology may disregard.â
By embracing a holistic vision of knowledge, he said, theologians play a vital part in helping the Church and humanity respond wisely and faithfully to the pressing challenges of our time.