{"id":15260,"date":"2026-05-12T16:07:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T16:07:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/15260\/"},"modified":"2026-05-12T16:07:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T16:07:12","slug":"university-students-in-rome-prepare-for-a-visit-from-pope-leo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/15260\/","title":{"rendered":"University students in Rome prepare for a visit from Pope Leo"},"content":{"rendered":"

On May 14, the Pope will visit the Sapienza University of Rome. Students preparing to welcome him share their experience in the University Chapel \u2014 a place that has become like family, especially for those from outside Rome. <\/p>\n

By Antonella Palermo\u00a0<\/p>\n

The atmosphere at the Sapienza University of Rome is full of excitement as students prepare for Pope Leo XIV\u2019s visit on the morning of Thursday, May 14. At 10:20 a.m. During the encounter, the Bishop of Rome will have a moment of prayer and time to greet the community before moving to the rectorate and the Aula Magna to deliver a speech.<\/p>\n

At the main campus of Europe\u2019s largest university, students study, conduct research, organize conferences, exhibitions, and concerts. \u201cThis is a laboratory of human hearts,\u201d says chaplain Fr. Gabriele Vecchione, \u201cwith 125,000 students from all over the world who will shape tomorrow. Here, we aim to live faith with a rational approach worthy of the 21st century.\u201d<\/p>\n

A home away from home <\/p>\n

To the young men and women who gather in the Chapel, it has become like home. One student recalls that during her undergraduate years, she never experienced faith on campus, despite her longstanding involvement in her parish since middle school.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cNow to find other students like me, who long for something more, is wonderful. It\u2019s like finding inner unity,\u201d she shares. \u201cA year ago, I was in St. Peter\u2019s Square to see the white smoke from the Sistine Chapel. So this Pope is special for me because I experienced the moment he was elected. It\u2019s historic that he\u2019s coming to Sapienza; it makes me hopeful \u2014 placing hope in us young people.\u201d<\/p>\n

She adds that at Sapienza University she has found a family, \u201ca place slowly showing me what it means to be a daughter, and I needed that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Studying with a sense of the infinite <\/p>\n

In the late afternoon, some students can be found in adoration before the main altar at the university chapel. Behind it is a small chapel for group meetings. The furnishings are simple, and the light is dim. One floor down is a large circular study hall where students can study.<\/p>\n

Beatrice, an Economics and Finance student who helps organize activities, recalls how she always felt like \u201ca perpetual stranger\u201d because she moved a lot. Now, for her, this chapel means everything. \u201cI come here when I\u2019m sad, scared, happy, in need of company, or even to be alone. Over the years, moving around made it hard to feel like a daughter.\u201d However, at the university, she has found a family. \u201cIn my first year, I felt immense loneliness. I was lost, in a dark alley. But gradually, I\u2019ve found my way. Now I feel part of all this wonder,\u201d Beatrice explains.<\/p>\n

Hospitality: A gift received, service returned <\/p>\n

For Lorenzo, the Chapel is also a place of refuge in moments of weakness and reflection. \u201cIt\u2019s a space in which to question oneself. For us, whether believers or not, it\u2019s fundamental\u2026I come every week just to talk. Often, I just walk by, and I go in.\u201d<\/p>\n

A young man from the southern city of Salento who studied Cinema Design and is awaiting work, shares: \u201cAt 16, I completely stopped going to church. Two years ago, I started the Ten Commandments course with Fr. Fabio Rosini. I don\u2019t consider myself fully Christian yet, but I\u2019m on a path. Jesus is both human and divine, and that closeness resonates with me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Students<\/p>\n

\n Students studying at the university in Rome\n <\/p>\n

Another student of Art History, from Italy’s Molise region, says entrusting everyday life \u201cto the One who knows everything\u201d is essential. \u201cFaith opens many doors in my life.\u201d He emphasizes that study and faith are not separate worlds. He recalls an October initiative to collect toys for children at the Umberto I Hospital: \u201cI contributed. Since then, a wonderful group has formed where everyone feels welcome. Our role is to welcome and bring comfort to those in need.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adapting to the language of young people <\/p>\n

Two priests living in the Chapel\u2019s basement oversee its activities. Fr. Claudio Tagliapietra, one of the vice-chaplains, explains the value of being immersed in university life: \u201cWe never ask ourselves how to attract young people. Instead, we ask ourselves how to meet them and speak to them about their anxieties. Only then do you speak the same language. Often they are seeking a father, a brother. Sometimes, a casual conversation leads to something deeper.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pope Leo\u2019s upcoming visit, he says, highlights the challenge of uniting two forms of wisdom: God\u2019s and humanity\u2019s. \u201cBoth come from the same source; we just need to listen with our hearts,\u201d he explains.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In response, Fr. Tagliapietra references key figures in Church history. St. Thomas Aquinas and his vision of wisdom; St. Augustine who was a teacher with a burning and wise heart; and St. John Henry Newman, who proposed a high ideal of university life. The goal, he explains, is to unify knowledge, which can inspire the Chapel groups that organize meetings and prayer sessions to look beyond their immediate circle.<\/p>\n

\"At<\/p>\n

\n At the launch of Don Fabio Rosini\u2019s book, The Origin of the Sublime\n <\/p>\n

The vice-chaplain also cites the Italian Constitution, which mentions the spiritual progress of work \u2014 often overlooked today. As a professor at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome, he reflects: \u201cEducating is one of our noblest missions as teachers: to show students all the beauty God sees in them, and providing them with the tools to become who they are meant to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

A laboratory of human hearts <\/p>\n

Education means bringing out the best in ourselves and others. It means stepping outside ourselves to respond to the needs of others. On May 4, for example, at the Chapel Auditorium, a night of remembrance and reflection was held for 16 Gazan students with scholarships, ensuring that Gaza\u2019s suffering is not forgotten.<\/p>\n

Another event is the May contemporary literature festival, Giardini d\u2019Inchiostro, organized by Fr. Gabriele Vecchione, who is also vice-director of the diocesan office for university pastoral care.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIn confession, I\u2019ve often heard young people recount how they no longer wanted to live,\u201d he confides. \u201cWhat I always do is remind them that this period is a phase in life that will pass.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fr. Vecchione avoids oversimplifications, particularly in matters of spirituality.\u00a0 \u201cThe Church has an arsenal, an immense reserve of spirituality,\u201d he continues, \u201cSt. John of the Cross, in his dark night, described what we would call depression, but also how to pass through it and encounter God. So the language of the psyche is part of faith, not foreign to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The risks of AI\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Fr. Vecchione, critical of the pervasive use of social media, describes it as a \u2018catastrophe\u2019 because of its addictive impact. He warns of a widespread neural crisis causing attention disorders, depression, and burnout.<\/p>\n

The chaplain also criticizes uncontrolled AI use: \u201cEven professors have become like prosecutors hunting for plagiarism. The university is a place of effort and reflection \u2014 you don\u2019t graduate with a snap of the fingers; you don\u2019t go from zero to one hundred in three days.\u201d<\/p>\n

Educating young people about reaching their goals\u00a0 <\/p>\n

In the world today, Fr. Vecchione argues that young people are often swept up in a rhetoric that tries to define them. Going further, he says adults have ruined the world, \u201cand then we expect young people not to doze off. They didn\u2019t ask to be born. They are here, and we owe them explanations.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

\n The study space in the basement of the university chapel\n <\/p>\n

Moreover, the chaplain explains a growing sense of paternalism regarding young people. \u201cWe can\u2019t escape it,\u201d he stresses, \u201cWe project certain expectations onto them\u2026Those who teach young people should ask what they truly desire. Instead, we put them on the industrial conveyor belt; they become like objects moving along it, all heading toward jobs they may come to hate.\u201d<\/p>\n

First and foremost, we need to re-educate the youth about how to achieve their true goals. \u201cIt\u2019s extremely difficult because wishing for something is always something foreign. A child generally desires something different from what their parents want, so living in that otherness is very hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Therefore, here at the Sapienza University, fostering familiarity and encouraging healthy relationships are among the priests’ main endeavours. When someone knocks on the Chapel door, it is usually to ask for guidance, for five minutes of conversation, or for confession. \u201cBut ultimately, everyone is seeking fatherhood \u2014 someone who believes in them.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On May 14, the Pope will visit the Sapienza University of Rome. Students preparing to welcome him share…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":15261,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[526,537,645,27,5943,534],"class_list":{"0":"post-15260","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rome","8":"tag-pope-leo-xiv","9":"tag-artificial-intelligence","10":"tag-pastoral-visit","11":"tag-rome","12":"tag-school-university","13":"tag-young-people"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15260"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15260\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15261"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}