In Christ, the harmony between truth, reason, and freedom is manifest, Pope tells university community
April 21, 2026
In Christ, “the profound harmony between truth, reason and freedom is manifested,” Pope Leo XIV said this afternoon at the inauguration of a new university campus in Equatorial Guinea.
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The Pontiff made his remarks at the inauguration of new León XIV Campus of the National University of Equatorial Guinea (video), where he expressed his “gratitude for the kind gesture of naming the campus after me. I am aware that such a decision goes beyond the person being honored as it reflects the values that we all want to pass on to others.”
Pope Leo compared a university to a ceiba tree:
In its greatness, in the sturdiness of its trunk and in the abundance of its branches, this tree seems to offer a parable of that which a university is called to be: an institution well rooted in the seriousness of study, in the living memory of a people and in the persevering search for truth. Only in this way will it be able to grow strong; only in this way will it be capable of bettering itself without losing contact with the historical circumstances in which it is situated. And, in addition to providing the means for professional success, it will be able to offer to future new generations a purpose in life, criteria for discernment and motives for serving.
Recalling the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden, the Pope said that the problem “does not rest with knowledge but in its deviation towards an intelligence that no longer seeks to correspond to reality, but rather to twist it for its own purposes, evaluating it according to the benefit of the one who demands to know. Here knowledge ceases to be an opening and becomes instead a possession; it ceases to be the path towards wisdom and is transformed into a prideful affirmation of self-sufficiency, opening the road to confusion, which can eventually become inhumane.”
On the other hand, at the tree of the Cross, “human beings are invited to allow their desire for knowledge to be healed: to rediscover that truth is not fabricated, not manipulated nor possessed like a trophy, but welcomed, sought with humility and served with responsibility,” Pope Leo said.
The Pope added:
Christ does not appear as a religious escape in the face of intellectual endeavors, as if faith began where reason ended. On the contrary, in him the profound harmony between truth, reason and freedom are manifested.
Truth presents itself as a reality that precedes human beings, challenges them and calls them to come out of themselves. This is why truth can be sought with trust. Faith, far from shutting itself off from this search, purifies it of self-sufficiency and opens it to a fullness towards which reason strives, even if it cannot completely embrace it.
In this way, the tree of the Cross restores the original purpose for love of knowledge. It teaches us that knowing means being open to truth, understanding both what it means and the mystery contained therein. Thus, the search for truth remains truly human: humble, serious and open to a truth that precedes us, calls us and transcends us.
“Dear brothers and sisters, here on this campus, the ceiba of Equatorial Guinea is called to bear fruits of progress rooted in solidarity and of a knowledge that ennobles and develops the human being in an integral way. It is called to offer the fruits of intelligence and uprightness, of competence and wisdom, of excellence and service,” the Pope said. “If generations of men and women are profoundly shaped in this place by truth and are capable of transforming their own existence into a gift for others, then the ceiba will remain an eloquent symbol rooted in the best things of this land, elevated by wisdom and abounding in fruits that pay tribute to Equatorial Guinea and enrich the entire human family.”
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