Holy Mass for University Students (15 February 1982)

On Monday, 15 February 1982, the Holy Father addressed University Students in Ibadan, “the cradle of university life” in Nigeria. The Pope encouraged them to be “the creators and authors of the cultural atmosphere of [their] community. [Their] dedication to inspired and responsible science, research and artistic creativity is of paramount importance to the spiritual and moral growth of the Nigerian people.” 

Dear brothers and sisters in Our Lord Jesus Christ,

It is a source of great joy for me to greet you all, university communities in Nigeria, intellectuals, men and women of science, cultures and arts. Our meeting takes place in Ibadan, the cradle of university life in your country. Today, with more than 25 universities and other study and research institutes in Nigeria, with so many highly specialized men of science and culture of illustrious fame in Nigeria, it is only right that the Pope meets with you to express his great esteem, to to get to know you better and to cheer you up. And above all things I invoke together with you God the Almighty Father. It is He, in fact, who — in the words we heard just now — gives us true science, which guides our wisdom and directs the wise.

1. Dear friends, you are engaged in an extremely important human activity. You are at the service of man through science and research . As men and women of study and research, you are making a very significant contribution to the progress and development of Nigeria, and even the whole of Africa. It is you who teach and train students and introduce them to the world of science in its multiple aspects. It is you who prepare the teachers of your numerous secondary and normal schools. You seek for society to participate in your magnificent intellectual, scientific, technological and cultural heritage. In this way, you respond to the demands of your country, which is growing so quickly, offering concrete research in the medical, metallurgical, biological, biochemical and other fields. Provide the necessary scientific foundation for the infrastructure that your great country needs, not only to be able to start but also to remain on a constant path.

All of this has allowed Nigeria to have experienced personnel today. You have very prepared teachers, teachers, doctors, surgeons, architects, urban planners, engineers, agronomists, administrators and technicians. And you did not neglect the liberal arts: music, painting, sculpture, and many other aspects of human creativity. Some of you are occupied in the human sciences, others in the difficult fields of philosophical and theological reflection.

You contribute in all these ways to improving the conditions of your people, helping Nigeria to occupy her rightful place among the nations of the world. In all these efforts you place yourselves directly at the service of man through science and research. You and your colleagues are the initiators and promoters of the cultural atmosphere in which the citizens of Nigeria are accustomed to living and expressing themselves. This is your greatness, this is the title you have to be esteemed and respected; but this is also your grave responsibility.

Men and women of science and the arts: the words that the Pope addresses to you in this much-desired meeting are words of respect and encouragement . Be the creators and authors of the cultural atmosphere of your community. Your dedication to inspired and responsible science, research and artistic creativity is of paramount importance to the spiritual and moral growth of the Nigerian people. Be a light that shines before men so that, seeing your good works, they may give praise to the Father who is in Heaven.

2. The cultural environment that you so diligently institute and promote in the classroom, in the laboratory, in the artistic workshop and in communication channels, is the key that opens the door to personal growth and elevation of the men and women of Nigeria, especially of young people. As Christians, you are convinced that economic progress alone, despite its importance, is not enough to free man from the numerous conditions and situations of insufficiency that afflict his personality and his life in society . Only an instruction, which is aimed at embracing all dimensions of a person's life and personality, can make each man and woman capable of breaking out of their ignorance, of escaping the lethargy that derives from personal frustration or the lack of opportunities and incentives. in social life. Only a cultural atmosphere that allows its participants and recipients to seek to "be more" instead of "have more" is capable of helping every man, woman and child to achieve their rightful place in society and thus to exercise fully effectively the their irreplaceable and inviolable human dignity.

3. You, who are the representatives of this cultural environment , with all its liberating strength, must not be discouraged when you see how much remains to be done, and how much ground still needs to be covered, before all your brothers and sisters in Nigeria, or before all Africans, share in the benefits of your science and creativity, and in the results of your research.

However, the cultural underdevelopment of some people — and this applies all over the world — should not serve as an instrument for partisan, ideological, economic or social purposes. The cynical exploitation of men's misery and ignorance, for objectives that have nothing in common with human dignity and the promotion of man and society, is a serious crime against the work of the Creator. You will stand firm against these temptations if your science, your research and your art are an expression of your sincere and personal love for the irreplaceable and unrepeatable dignity of each human being.

4. Men and women of science, learning and culture! The methods of your sciences and your artistic creativity often lead you to see the world in terms of general principles that discipline human life in its many dimensions, whether in the field of biology and medicine or activities in the economic sector, social, cultural and artistic, to name just a few. Do not forget that the application of your science and your technical capacity affects men and women in their personal lives. I appeal to you, to men and women of science wherever you are, to seek ways to apply your research in such a way that the personal dignity, legitimate freedoms, and moral convictions of men and women in everywhere.

5. Brothers and sisters of Nigeria, here perhaps more than in some other parts of the contemporary world, the future "style" of your society is still in your hands. Technical progress and industrial development have not yet exceeded verifiable limits. Euphoria and one-sided enthusiasm for greater material well-being at any price do not yet dominate. This is the moment , as I suggested in the Encyclical Redemptor Hominis , to ask ourselves — with absolute objectivity, honesty and with a sense of moral responsibility — the essential questions regarding the situation of man today and in the future: "Does it prevail in men, in world of man' — which is in itself a world of moral good and evil — good or evil? Social love, respect for the rights of others — for each and every one truly grows in men, among men of men, of each nation, of each people — or, on the contrary, selfishness of varying scope grows, exaggerated nationalism instead of the authentic love of the country, and, also, the tendency to dominate others, beyond one's own and legitimate rights and merits, and the tendency to enjoy all material and technical-productive progress exclusively for the purpose of predominating over others, or in favor of this or that imperialism?" (n. 15).

Men and women of culture, the future "style" of civil life in your country is being prepared in the cultural atmosphere that you create through your activity. To you, therefore, I feel the need to repeat an enunciation of the Second Vatican Council on true wisdom — an enunciation that I had occasion to repeat previously: "More than past centuries, our time needs such wisdom, so that the new discoveries of men. Indeed, the destiny of the world is threatened if men full of wisdom do not arise" ( Gaudium et Spes , 15).

Men and women of culture: May you be full of wisdom: Your country, Africa and the whole world have great need of you.

6. Dear friends, I cannot fail to tell you about the primacy of spiritual values ​​in all fields of culture, in which you live and work, and to which you make such a significant contribution. Without spiritual values, man is no longer faithful to himself , because without them he denies or ignores his essential relationship of dependence on the very source of his existence, on his Creator in whose image he was created and continues to exist.

Like you, the Church is also at the service of man through the proclamation of the Gospel and its liberating and uplifting action. Science and religion both constitute a gift from God , eternal Truth. The truth does not contradict itself. Science and religion are not only not opposed to each other, but they understand each other, work together and are both at the service of man and truth.

I am pleased to know that many of your universities have sectors for religious studies. A university, where various schools of thought meet and each aspires to the right of citizenship, needs religion for dialogue, for reciprocal understanding and for the necessary study of the fundamental truth about man. Education without religion is incomplete and risks being falsified, turning into a harmful instrument for man. For the same reason, I am pleased to note that almost all of your universities have chapels and university chaplains. I wish to extend my greeting and encouragement to all those who are committed to this apostolate.

As leaders of universities and the intellectual world, you enjoy academic freedom . This freedom allows you to join the Church in investigating the truth, defending and exalting fundamental human rights and denouncing unworthy human situations, whenever circumstances justify it.

Nigerian university students, intellectuals, scientists, men and women of culture; As the Gospel we heard says, you are the salt of the earth. You must not lose your flavor. You are cities placed on high. You are lights placed on the lampstand. He goes. Educate. Illuminate. Encourage. Animate. The Church understands and respects you. The Church extends to you the hand of friendship and collaboration.

We are now gathered around the altar of the Master, whose words so often amazed his listeners with the wisdom they contained. Let us all ask Him to grant us the gift of wisdom. In this Eucharistic Celebration, Christ receives and accepts your service to man, through culture; he accepts the fruits of your intellectual and artistic activities; Offer them to the Father as a pleasant sacrifice.

And Jesus Christ, Incarnate Wisdom of God, be a light for each of you in your life. Let His truth shine in your mind and find expression on your lips. His truth fills you with joy and leads us to eternal life. So be it.

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