Pope links young people’s mental health challenges to loss of interior life, sense of meaning
May 30, 2026
Addressing education ministers from Ibero-American nations, Pope Leo XIV linked the mental health challenges experienced by young people to the loss of a sense of meaning, an inner life, and “interior constellations” to which they can look.
The education ministers are in Rome for a conference entitled “Maps of Hope for a Regional Educational Agenda: Mental Health, Digital Technologies and Education.” The Dicastery for Culture and Education, Pontifical Commission for Latin America, and Organization of Ibero-American States for Education, Science and Culture organized the conference, whose title recalls Pope Leo’s apostolic letter on education.
“Many young people possess increasingly sophisticated technological devices, yet they struggle to find a meaning for living, hoping, loving and even suffering,” Pope Leo said during the audience, which took place this morning in Consistory Hall of the Apostolic Palace. “Behind so many difficulties, loneliness and psychological fragility often lies a silent question: ‘Does my life have any meaning? Is there a reliable hope for the future?’“
“When human beings are reduced to performance, consumption or a statistical figure, profound inner suffering inevitably arises,” the Pope continued. “Many young people today live under the yoke of expectations and performance, immersed in a frenzied competitiveness that generates anxiety, fear of not being good enough, and disorientation.”
The Pope added:
For this reason, we cannot approach the issue of mental health solely as a clinical or technical matter. Undoubtedly, the contributions of science, psychology, medicine and the neurosciences are indispensable. But we also believe that human beings can live authentically—and overcome so many inner frailties—within a horizon of meaning.
When this horizon darkens, inner emptiness, isolation and despair increase. When, on the other hand, a person discovers that their life has value, that they are loved, awaited and called to a task in the world, then hope is born. And hope is not a naive illusion: it is a spiritual force that sustains life, even in the most difficult moments.
That is why I wanted to include, amongst the objectives of the Global Education Compact, the goal of cultivating inner life. Indeed, it is not enough to connect young people to digital networks if they then remain disconnected from themselves, from others and from their own inner selves. Cultivating the inner life means helping the younger generations to rediscover silence, reflection, the ability to ask questions, the depth of relationships and openness to the transcendent. To listen to the soul, one must sharpen one’s hearing, for its voice is not a shout, but a whisper (cf. 1 Kings 19:9–16).
“Technology connects us, but education shapes us,” Pope Leo said. “To educate means accompanying young people in discovering not only how to live, but also why to live. In this educational mission, public institutions, schools, universities, families, religious communities, the world of culture and the world of communication are called to work together. No one can face such profound and complex challenges alone.”
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