Reminding his academic audience of the myth of Icarus, the Pope recounted the story in which "young Icarus, carried away with the desire of flying to absolute freedom," fatally forgot that as he neared the sun, the wax that held together his wings would melt. "His fall and death were the price he paid for his illusion," the Pope remarked.
Today's world offers many illusions "that cannot be trusted without the risk of disastrous consequences for one's own existence and that of others," the Pope said. He pointed to the rise of emphasis on "an artificial intelligence ever more dominated by experimental techniques," which often fails to acknowledge "that science must always defend man."
University professors, the Pope continued, should encourage students to pursue the truth in its completeness, "defending it from interpretations that would reduce or distort it." Keeping a Christian perspective, he said, they should always be mindful that "God is the ultimate truth to which all reason naturally tends."
