The future depends on respecting the dignity of the human person, Pope says in address at UNESCO

September 26, 2026

Pope Leo XIV visited the headquarters of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Paris and delivered a wide-ranging reflection on education, culture, peace, and technology in light of the dignity of the human person (video).

The visit took place on the afternoon of September 25, the first day of the Pontiff’s apostolic journey to France. Earlier in the day, UNESCO hosted a forum on Magnifica Humanitas, Pope Leo’s encyclical on safeguarding the human person in the time of artificial intelligence.

After meeting with UNESCO leaders, the Pope greeted members of the Holy See’s delegation there.

“It is precisely as a witness to peace that I greet each of you, the Representatives of Member and Observer States, International Organizations, and the worlds of academia and civil society,” Pope Leo began. “I have come as a Pastor, to speak to you on behalf of the Church, which continually seeks to enter into dialogue and has a message to share with every people, with all women and men of good will.”

“The future depends first and foremost on the need to respect and promote the inalienable dignity inherent in every man and woman created in God’s image,” the Pope continued. “Consequently, we look upon this Organization as a privileged partner in the service of the common good.”

Turning to the themes of education and culture, Pope Leo said:

In this assembly, then, a fundamental question deserves to be explored, one that urgently calls for a response: What does it mean to be human? ...

Before all else, the human person is someone who is conceived and born ... Secondly, we are all born naked and in need ... Thirdly, to keep alive the memory of our common humanity is to recognize its grandeur—that is, its immense potential—even though it is diminished by many forms of evil and injustice.

“Humanity had come to realize that scientific progress, when severed from wisdom, can turn into a weapon of destruction; that culture, when subjected to ideology, can degenerate into falsehood and propaganda; and that education, when it abandons the truth, can become an instrument for manipulating consciences,” the Pope added. “Peace cannot be built by treaties alone, nor by compromises between opposing forces. Peace is genuine when it springs from the virtue of justice rather than from a mere contract, and from an upright will rather than from an unstable balance of interests. Indeed, only an upright will can recognize in the other a brother or sister, a person like oneself.”

In discussing the dignity of the human person, Pope Leo said:

The human being is certainly one who is born, but also one who dies. Our dignity is not destroyed by illness or suffering, nor is it dependent upon our abilities. Rather, it calls for loving care at every stage of life.

For the Christian faith, the mystery of the human person finds its fullest light in Christ, who, in the very revelation of the mystery of the Father and of his love, fully reveals humanity to itself and brings to light its very high calling. In his light, every person appears to us as a creature willed and loved by God. This light also helps us to grasp more deeply the meaning of our shared human experience.

The Pontiff then decried the killing of the innocent in the name of freedom:

Without truth, language becomes subject to the logic of violence and to the arbitrary will of the powerful. Others are then excluded in the name of profit, and the innocent are killed in the name of freedom. Instead of respecting the law, those in power invoke it when it serves their interests and disregard it when it restrains them, treating even justice itself as though it were a commodity to be bought and sold. If we realize that the corruption of the law begins with the corruption of the heart, we can recognize how every science risks losing its proper meaning when pursued without ethics, and thus ceasing to serve and reflect human dignity.

After praising UNESCO’s work, Pope Leo said that “the touchstone by which we can assess our commitment is the care we show for the littlest and for the poor: children in their mothers’ wombs and in the various theaters of war, persons with physical and intellectual disabilities, the elderly, migrants, refugees, and all those arrogantly excluded as unproductive. They are the true test of our claims to respect human dignity, and their protection and promotion extend also to creation.”

“We are not journeying toward oblivion,” the Pope added. “That is why the human spirit, in its relationship with God, senses all the more keenly the call to cultivate peace through a covenant among peoples who realize that they are children of the same Father, brothers and sisters to one another.”

 

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Further information:

• Apostolic Journey to France: Visit to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) (Dicastery for Communication - Vatican Media, 9/25/26)
• Visit to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) (Holy See Press Office, 9/25/26)
• Pope at UNESCO: ‘Peace cannot be built by treaties alone’ (Vatican News, 9/25/26)
• Pope LEO XIV at UNESCO (UNESCO)