On February 2, 2023, the late Pope Francis founded the Laudato Si’ Higher Education Center to begin transforming the gardens of Villa Barberini and the Pontifical Villas into a place of training in integral ecology — a framework that seeks to care for both nature and the most vulnerable among us.
“He said, ‘Let’s create an educational center here, but also a spiritual center,’” said Rev. Daniel Groody, C.S.C., the vice president and associate provost for undergraduate education and professor of theology and global affairs at Notre Dame. “Here’s a place to encounter the beauty of nature that God has created — and a place that can facilitate an ecological conversion.”
Pope Leo XIV, who has likewise emphasized sustainability as one of his major priorities, dedicated the Borgo Laudato Si’ last fall, calling it “a seed of hope” that promises to bear the fruits of justice and peace.
As the Vatican seeks to bring Pope Francis’s vision to life, it has asked the University of Notre Dame — an institution that has also sought to enact the principles of Laudato si’ in its teaching, research, and operations — to serve as an academic partner.