The Archbishop of Braga presided at the UCP Day Mass on the day the Church celebrated the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord
The Metropolitan Archbishop of Braga, José Cordeiro, this Sunday encouraged the academic community of the Braga Regional Center of the Portuguese Catholic University (UCP) to foster a culture of hope in formation, for the sake of a “better world”, in this challenging time marked by the advance of new technologies and artificial intelligence.
The prelate conveyed this message at the UCP Day Eucharist, which he presided over at the Cathedral of Braga, attended by a large assembly made up of teachers, students, family members, staff and friends of Católica-Braga, as well as other faithful with no connection to the academic community.
“Here in Braga, we are also called to continue the narrative of an educational hope with the communities of the Faculty of Theology and the Faculty of Philosophy and Social Sciences,” said Archbishop José Cordeiro, warning that the time we live in, ‘the time of the internet and artificial intelligence, is uncoordinated’.
In his homily, the Archbishop pointed to the UCP as a “place of hope”, stressing that “while knowledge helps to solve problems and understand the world, wisdom teaches us to be people”.
Recalling the message from UCP Rector Isabel Capeloa Gil for University Day 2025, the prelate said that Católica seeks to overcome the “technocratic logic that instrumentalizes”, putting “knowledge at the service of the person, in the hope of transforming people and society, overcoming the inequalities of our time”.
He recalled that the Church has had a “deep commitment” to higher education institutions since their origins, so the synthesis between culture and faith “is not only an experience of culture, but also of faith”, and the pastoral work of evangelizing culture is a way for the Church to maintain a “fruitful connection” with the university world.
In this context, the Archbishop recalled some of the challenges pointed out by the Pope for University Pastoral Care, in his meeting with university students during World Youth Day Lisbon 2023, where Francis asked young people to replace fears with dreams and not to settle for “easy answers”, but to take risks and try to be “entrepreneurs of dreams, not managers of fears”.
“We need an integral ecology, listening to the needs of the planet together with those of the poor. The global educational pact calls for education to welcome and include,” said Bishop José.
The prelate also challenged the UCP-Braga academic community to “go on pilgrimage with wisdom”, taking advantage of the Jubilee Year for a “living and personal encounter with Jesus Christ, the source of true hope”.
The celebration of UCP Day, which takes place every year on the first Sunday in February, coincided with the feast of the Presentation of the Lord, also known as the feast of the Meeting (between the Child Jesus and the elderly Simeon and Anna), celebrated 40 days after Christmas.
On this day, the Church also remembers Our Lady of the Lamps, of the Light, of the Purification or of Candlemas, a feast that has a history and a link to the purification of Our Lady and the Presentation of the Child Jesus in the Temple.
Before the Eucharist, Archbishop José Cordeiro lit the Easter candle, which was then distributed among the candles of the faithful, recalling that “Jesus is the light of the light that comes to meet us”.
