Pope Leo XIV travels to Castel Gandalfo, where he pays a visit to the Borgo Laudato Sì, an area of the papal residence converted by Pope Francis into a space for formation and raising awareness about the care for our common home.
Pope Leo XIV made a surprise excursion on Thursday 29 May to the papal residence in Castel Gandolfo, where he visited the Borgo Laudato Sì project initiated by his predecessor Pope Francis.
The Borgo Laudato Sì (“Laudato Sì Village”), located on the grounds of the Papal Villas, is a space dedicated to formation and education on the theme of the earth as our “common home”—an example of the “integral ecology” at the heart of the encyclical for which it is named.
According to the Holy See Press Office, the Pope was welcomed by Cardinal Fabio Baggio, Under Secretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, and Fr Manuel Dorantes, project director of the Borgo Laudato Sì, which is set to be inaugurated soon.
After pausing in the Garden of the Virgin Mary, Pope Leo visited the Belvedere Gardens, and then paused in the Cryptoporticus, the archeological remains of the Roman Emperor Domitian’s audience hall.
Pope Leo XIV reflected on the “courageous actions of Pope Pius XII, who in 1944 provided refuge to over 12,000 people following the bombing of the Castelli Romani region during World War II,” according to the Press Office statement.
During his visit to Castel Gandolfo, the Holy Father also visited the Apostolic Palace, which Pope Francis had transformed into a museum in 2016, and the historic Villa Barberini, before returning to the Vatican.
Borgo Laudato Sì
With the publication of Laudato si’ ten years ago, Pope Francis shone a spotlight on the critical issue of care for our common home. The natural spaces surrounding the papal residence at Castel Gandolfo—including 20 hectares of farmland, greenhouses, and service buildings—were destined to be the best place to give concrete form to the principles proclaimed in the encyclical.
That dream came to fruition in 2023, when Pope Francis founded the Borgo with two chirographs, with the intention of making a tangible contribution “to the development of ecological education” under the auspices of the Laudato Sì Centre for Higher Education, established at the same time and tasked with raising awareness about care for the environment.
With the help of the experts in botany, biology, integral ecology, and related disciplines, the Borgo began to offer opportunities to explore the values underlying the encyclical and, at the same time, job preparation courses such as those for gardeners and green space maintenance workers.
The Borgo Laudato Sì welcomes not only entrepreneurs and specialists, schoolchildren, and university students, but also those who are marginalized, for whom Pope Francis had special affection, including migrants, women victims of violence, people with disabilities, ex-prisoners, people struggling with drug addiction, and many others who are often deprived of educational opportunities.
With thanks to Vatican News.
