To Rome, With Love
Celestial Recognition of the Importance of Education
Our younger audiences may not get the pun, but the title of the 2012 movie To Rome, With Love felt fitting for this Forza, written just days after a whirlwind trip that took me to some of the most inspiring education gatherings I’ve experienced in a long time.
I may have been in Rome, but the commitment of thousands of people from different cultures made clear that what we do in the U.S. has powerful repercussions far beyond our borders. The drive to expand opportunity through education isn’t confined by geography—it’s a shared pursuit that connects and inspires people everywhere.
The Jubilee for Education
It was the Giubileo del Mondo Educativo—the Jubilee for the Educational World—as students, teachers, and leaders from across the globe converged on Rome, and specifically on Vatican City, to celebrate the human calling for education.
The week opened with the signing by Pope Leo XIV of the Apostolic Letter Drawing New Maps of Hope (must read!) and a Holy Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica, which I had the privilege to attend. The document commemorated the 60th anniversary of Gravissimum Educationis, the Vatican’s historic declaration on education, and renewed the call for a renaissance of learning that speaks to “the hearts of the younger generations,” reuniting knowledge and meaning, competence and responsibility, faith and life.
In his homily that day, the Holy Father reminded students that education is meant to lift the human gaze:
“When human beings are incapable of seeing beyond themselves, beyond their own experiences, ideas and convictions, beyond their own projects, then they remain imprisoned, enslaved and incapable of forming mature judgments.”
He invited all present to strive for “the grace of an overall vision—a gaze capable of grasping the horizon, of going beyond.”
A Great Act of Love
He also warned of a new challenge of our time—“hyper-digitalisation, fragmentation of attention, social insecurity, the need for interior life and wise use of technology”—and reminded educators that “teaching is a great act of love … sharing knowledge is not enough for teaching: love is needed.”
That love was evident throughout the week’s gatherings. On October 31, in a special audience with educators, the Pope urged them to lead with “unity, love, and joy,” emphasizing that “truth does not spread through sounds, walls and corridors … but in the profound encounter between people—without which any educational endeavour is doomed to fail.”
The Human Side of Innovation
That same spirit of encounter and balance between humanity and innovation was alive beyond the Vatican’s walls as well. While in Rome, I explored two remarkable institutions deeply committed to students’ humanity, even as they embrace technology.
First, Ingenium Education—and its newest venture, the Acorn International School—sits on a spacious campus amid ancient olive groves once tended by the Etruscans. Students from every country participate in a dual Italian-UK curriculum and an IB programme. Acorn describes itself as a school rooted in the whole person: with wide open spaces, expansive windows, and gathering spots larger than traditional classrooms, all designed to emphasize that education happens not only through exposure to great works but through one another—echoing the Holy Father’s very words. Their technology stance reflects this ethos: Ingenium has developed an AI-companion for teachers that helps deploy real-time assessments while freeing them to focus on the relational, human side of education.
On the other side of the Tiber, in Trastevere, the American-founded John Cabot University offers both U.S. and Italian students higher education in the cradle of Western civilization. As it has grown, it has forged a distinctive approach to business, entrepreneurship, and the study of AI in education and enterprise. These two are just examples of many Italian institutions striving to balance technology with human connection—allowing the digital to serve the human, never the reverse.
The Global —and Moral Weight—of Catholic Education
What is striking, and likely unknown to many Americans, is the sheer scope of Catholic education worldwide. According to data from the Central Statistical Office of the Holy See, the Catholic system encompasses more than 231,000 schools and universities across 171 countries, serving over 72 million students. Africa remains the beating heart of this network, with the highest number of enrollments—a vivid reminder that faith-based education is not a relic of the past but one of the most powerful and compassionate engines for human development in the world.
In the words of the late Pope Francis, whose teachings Pope Leo XIV continues to echo, “The education of the poor, for the Christian faith, is not a favor, but a duty.”
Education, he said, is one of the highest expressions of Christian charity.
From 1965 to Today—The Universal Right to Education
Sixty years earlier, the Second Vatican Council’s Gravissimum Educationis declared that “all men of every race, condition and age, since they enjoy the dignity of a human being, have an inalienable right to an education.” It recognized parents as the first and natural educators, whose rights “must be proclaimed and protected,” and it called upon both Church and society to ensure that every child has access to learning that forms the whole person—intellect, heart, and soul.
That universal right—the right to an education grounded in human dignity and exercised through parental freedom—is the moral cornerstone of authentic education reform and the foundation for the global movement we now call education choice. It affirms that every family, regardless of income or geography, deserves not merely access to schooling, but the freedom to choose the kind of education that helps their children see beyond themselves—toward truth, purpose, and the horizon of hope the Holy Father so beautifully described.
A Personal Benediction
And then, there was the most unexpected grace of all—our own encounter with the Holy Father, who paused to hold the baby I love most, my newest grandson. The love and wonder in his eyes were palpable; the crowd around us wept and rejoiced as if it were their own child. In that brief embrace, Heaven met earth—a reminder that education, like faith, begins with love. It’s my hope that we can all reflect that same gaze, that same tenderness, toward the children we serve.
There is so much more to say and share, but suffice to say we are creating an opportunity for more to gather next spring in the Eternal City, to explore more deeply how humanity and AI can co-cultivate progress. Bookmark this idea and plan to join us!
Ciao… and Forza! - Jeanne