Pope Leo XIV goes to Castel Gandalfo, where he visits Borgo Laudato Sì, an area of the papal residence converted by Pope Francis into a space for training and awareness of care of our common house.
By Vatican News
Pope Leo XIV made a surprise excursion Thursday at the Papal residence in Castel Gandolfo, where he visited the Borgo Laudato Sì Project initiated by his predecessor Pope François.
The Borgo Laudato Sì (“Laudato Sì village”), located in the field of papal villas, is a space dedicated to training and education on the theme of the earth as our “common house” – an example of “integral ecology” in the heart of the encyclical for which it is named.
During his visit to Castel Gandolfo, the Holy Father also visited the Apostolic Palace, which Pope Francis had transformed into a museum in 2016.
Borgo Laudato Sì
With the publication of Laudato if ‘ Ten years ago, Pope Francis highlighted the critical question of care for our common house. The natural spaces surrounding the Papal residence of Castel Gandolfo – including 20 hectares of agricultural land, greenhouses and service buildings – were intended to be the best place to give a concrete form to the principles proclaimed in the encyclical.
This dream materialized in 2023, when Pope Francis founded the Borgo with two chirographs, in order to make a tangible contribution “to the development of ecological education” under the auspices of the Laudato Sì center for Higher Education, established at the same time and responsible for raising awareness of the environment.
With the help of experts in botany, biology, integral ecology and related disciplines, Borgo began to offer possibilities to explore the values underlying encyclical and, at the same time, to job preparation courses such as those of gardeners and workers in the maintenance of green spaces.
Borgo Laudato Sì is not only welcoming entrepreneurs and specialists, schoolchildren and university students, but also those who are marginalized, for whom Pope Francis had a particular affection, including migrants, women victims of violence, people with disabilities, former prisoners, people with a drug addiction, and many others who are often deprived of educational possibilities.
