Pope Francis received teachers and students from Collegio Rotondi, a Catholic school in Lombardy (map), as it commemorated the 425th anniversary of its founding.
“It is necessary to know how to change so as to remain faithful to your own identity and mission,” Pope Francis said during the February 3 audience, which took place in Paul VI Audience Hall. “I therefore encourage you to engage intensively in your school activities, but always with a mind open to newness.”
“In particular, you, young people, seek the truth in everything, without letting yourselves be conditioned by the fashions of the moment or by common thinking, by the likes or consensus of followers,” the Pope continued. “At the same time, though, do not be afraid, when necessary, to change and accept opinions and ways of thinking different from your own in all that which his not essential: be true lovers of the truth, and for this, always open to listening and confrontation.”