Pope Leo writes a letter to Popotus, an Italian weekly supplement dedicated to children that is celebrating its 30th anniversary, and invites everyone to keep a “childlike outlook on reality” in order to “remain human."
Vatican News “In these days of great concern over wars that threaten the future of humanity,” we must look to children, because their “lost” eyes can lead to true conversion, Pope Leo XIV wrote in a letter to the readers of Popotus, the weekly supplement dedicated to children as part of the newspaper of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, Avvenire. We must also become a little like children again, having “pure eyes” to look at reality so as to “remain human,” the Pope continued. Popotus is celebrating the 30th anniversary of its first issue, which came out on March 23, 1996. The dangers of the digital age and AI In the letter, addressed to the director of Avvenire, Marco Girardo, the Pope thanked the outlet for their work in sharing current events with children: “The good news that encourages us and the bad news that can teach us not to repeat the same mistakes.” Looking then at our current time period, he called on parents and teachers to protect children “from an inhuman idea of information and education.” “All of us, especially today in the digital age and the era of artificial intelligence, need ongoing education. And to remain human, we need to preserve a childlike outlook on reality,” the Pope emphasized. Pope Leo also warned against letting “children come to believe they can find in AI chatbots their best friends or the oracle of all knowledge, thus dulling their intellect and their capacity for relationships, numbing their creativity and their thinking.” “We must safeguard their childhood,” the Pope urged, “and guide their growth so that they may become protagonists of a renewed world.” Restoring beauty to the world Pope Leo then addressed the young readers, assuring them that “indeed, restoring beauty to the world is possible.” “You can help adults to see it—through this newspaper created for you—with renewed wonder in its grace, to think about it with trust, and to build it without prejudice,” the Pope insisted. “Growing up,” he continued, addressing today’s readers and recalling those of the past, now in their thirties, “you will discover ever new things and create new things yourselves; but there are things you must always preserve from these early years of your life: trust in those who love you, the universal language of love, the disarming power of a smile, the courage to say sorry, the beauty of making peace.” A gaze with pure eyes The Pope also recalled Jesus’ words to his disciples: “Unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” A message that the Pope highlighted is still valid today: “Being like children is not going backward, but keeping a key to seeing the essence of everything, to finding surprising answers even to the most difficult questions.” “Perhaps only by looking into the lost eyes of children in the face of the barbarity of war can we be converted,” he wrote. “Relearning to look into one another’s eyes and to look at the world with pure eyes.” He concluded his letter by expressing his gratitude to parents and teachers for their “care” and “love” in educating their young “companions on the journey.” He invited them to help children ever more “to bring out the beauty within them and to express it in ever new ways, relating to history, to memory, to life—each according to their own uniqueness, which is a gift from God.”