On the occasion of the official visit to the Congregation for Culture and Education, the Rector of the University of Deusto, Juan José Etxeberria SJ, accompanied by the Dean of the Faculty of Theology, Francisco José Ruiz Pérez SJ, had the opportunity to be received in private audience by Pope Francis on April 8.

The purpose of this meeting was to inform the Pope about the current situation of the University, the challenges Deusto faces as a Church institution in the academic sphere, and the university community that constitutes our mission. When the Rector asked what message he would convey to the entire University, after a couple of seconds of thought, the Pope's words were: "Don't lose joy." He confessed that it was what came to mind during their conversation, as "sadness is a fog of the soul that leads nowhere."

The Rector notes that the Pope is aware that the current moment discourages hope in many people and institutions, starting with young people, and encourages them to "not lose their sense of humor, please." He requested a copy of Gaudete et exultate, his 2018 apostolic exhortation, where one of the notes reproduces a well-known prayer by Thomas More, which the Pope confessed he has been praying for 40 years and, in fact, read aloud, as if he wanted to make it "our" prayer too:

"Grant me, Lord, good digestion, and also something to digest.

Grant me bodily health, with the good humor necessary to maintain it.

Give me, Lord, a holy soul that knows how to take advantage of what is good and pure, so that it may not be frightened by sin, but find a way to put things back in order.

Grant me a soul that does not know boredom, murmurs, sighs, and laments, and do not allow it to suffer excessively from that dominant being called I.

Give me, Lord, a sense of humor. Grant me the grace to understand jokes, so that I may know a little joy in life and be able to communicate it to others.

So be it."