Francisco and the transformative power of literature

Among his latest teachings, Pope Francis left us a reflection of extraordinary relevance: the Letter on the role of literature in education (17 July 2024) [1] .

The text, although conceived in the context of priestly formation, offers a vision so broad and profound that it goes beyond this initial framework. The principles that Francis proposes – the vital role of literature in personal, spiritual and relational maturation – are transferable to all who seek to cultivate their humanity.

“I am referring to the value of reading novels and poems on the path to personal growth.” (n.º 1)

Available in eight languages ​​(Arabic, German, English, Spanish, French, Italian, Polish and Portuguese), this document reaffirms not only its universal scope, but also the richness of linguistic and cultural diversity – a fundamental dimension for the humanism that it proclaims.

Throughout the Letter, the Pope emphasizes that literature is not a luxury or mere entertainment. In a world saturated with audiovisual stimuli and superficial news, reading – especially literary works – offers a space for silence, imagination and interiority. Francis emphasizes the active character of the reader: in reading, he not only receives, but recreates, transforms and expands the text with his own experience and sensitivity.

“The reader is much more active when he reads a book. In a way, he rewrites it, expands it with his imagination, creates a world, uses his abilities, his memory, his dreams, his own story full of drama and symbolism.” (n.º 3)

This exercise of imagination and attentive listening is fundamental to human development. Literature teaches us to enter into the dramas, desires and wounds of others, opening ourselves to the complexity of the human condition — a practice that, as Francis reminds us, brings us closer to the concrete ‘flesh’ of Jesus Christ, made of stories, emotions and perspectives: “We must all be careful never to lose sight of the ‘flesh’ of Jesus Christ: that flesh made of passions, emotions, feelings, concrete stories.” (n.º 14)

In this conception of literature as a path to full attention and human cultivation, we also find resonances with contemporary reflections on care. As Cynthia Fleury proposes, caring is an act deeply linked to imagination and active listening – not just a response to needs, but a recognition of the uniqueness of the other in a relationship of responsibility and creation of meaning [2] .

Just as good reading requires true attention, patience and openness, so authentic care requires an imaginative and respectful presence that goes beyond automatic or merely technical responses.

In a time of accelerated technologicalization of life, in which human contact is at risk of being lost, literature offers itself as an irreplaceable laboratory for training sensitivity, empathy and relational intelligence. This vision has found fertile ground in the Medical Humanities, whose programs, flourishing in several medical schools, emphasize the role of narrative imagination in understanding and caring for others [3] .

“Literature helps the reader to break the idols of self-referential, falsely self-sufficient, statically conventional languages ​​[…], making the human word more hospitable to the Word that comes to dwell in it.” (n.º 42)

Reading, in this sense, is a gesture of resistance against the trivialization of the human. It is an exercise in inner freedom, of hospitality towards otherness, of creating new possibilities of meaning.

Reading is a way to cultivate humanity.

We invite you to visit or revisit this inspired and inspiring letter, which challenges us to make reading not just a habit, but an art of living and caring .

Professor of Literature and Medical Humanities

[1] Francis. Letter of the Holy Father on the role of literature in education. Vatican, 17 July 2024. Available at: https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/letters/2024/documents/20240717-lettera-ruolo-letteratura-formazione.html .

[2] Cynthia Fleury, Caring is a Humanism (Preface by Maria de Jesus Cabral). Porto: Afrontamento, 2025.

[3] Maria de Jesus Cabral and Marie-France Mamzer (Coords). O(u)sar a Literatura: A laboratory of readings for reflection on health (D. Faria, J. Domingues & M. Lopes, Trans.). De Facto Editores, 2020