“There is the fashion —in every age, but in this age in the Church’s life I consider it dangerous —that instead of drawing from the roots in order to move forward – meaning fine traditions – we ‘step back,’ not going up or down, but backwards,” Pope Francis said on June 1, in an address to participants in a conference organized by the Vatican’s Congregation for Catholic Education (“Lines of Development of the Global Compact on Education”).

“Those people call themselves guardians of traditions, but of dead traditions,” the Pope continued. “The true Catholic Christian and human tradition is what that fifth-century theologian [St. Vincent of Lerins] described as a constant growth: throughout history tradition grows, progresses.”

During his address, the Pope also emphasized the centrality of the person, “the need to invest all our energy, with creativity and responsibility,” and “our need to educate for service.”