The University of Notre Dame and the Vatican’s Laudato Si’ Center for Higher Education have teamed up to establish the Global Alliance for Laudato Si’. The hope, as stated on Notre Dame’s website, is “to strengthen cooperation among universities worldwide and connect sustainability leaders in academia and beyond to advance a shared vision for transformative change. … The alliance will serve as a hub for connecting, amplifying, and spearheading research, curriculum, and action initiatives for supporting a sustainable future, as inspired by the principles articulated by Pope Francis in his encyclical Laudato Si’ (On Care for Our Common Home) and embraced and amplified by Pope Leo XIV as he begins his papacy.”
The Global Alliance held its inaugural meeting on 9-10 March at the Laudato Si’ Village in Castel Gandolfo. With representatives from over 60 universities and major international organizations in attendance, the meeting’s first day was dedicated to panel discussions on current research in various fields related to ecology and sustainability. The second day transitioned to look at the definition of operational tools, including the formation of six interdisciplinary working groups. There were also daily liturgies and prayers, and opportunities to tour the beautiful Castel Gandolfo gardens.
The University of Notre Dame’s participation in the Global Alliance is overseen by its Just Transformation to Sustainability (JTS) Initiative. Arun Agrawal, the Pulte Family Professor of Development Policy at Notre Dame’s Keough School of Global Affairs, is its founding Director.
“We feel that Notre Dame, a leading Catholic research university, is positioned to assist the Holy See in its objective to seek transformative change in a manner consistent with the best available science, as well as the foundational elements of integral ecology and integral human development,” Agrawal said.
Learn more about how Holy Cross is Caring for Our Common Home
“There is already so much inspiring work being done all over the world,” he continued, “and the goal of the Global Alliance is not to substitute for any of that work, but rather to share, to learn, to connect and to support what is already going on and to provide a space in which anyone who is interested in sustainability and integral ecology can learn from what others have done and to build on that. … We look forward to cultivating these new relationships with other global leaders in the sustainability field and operationalizing the interdisciplinary research needed to effect this deep and lasting change in our world.”
The University of Notre Dame's partnership with the Vatican on the Global Alliance for Laudato Si’ is a great example of the Congregation of Holy Cross putting its charism as “educators in the faith” at the service of the Universal Church and the wider world.
“It’s also important to see how Notre Dame can be at the service of the Church,” said Fr. Daniel Groody, C.S.C., Vice President and Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education. “We can connect the research engine of Notre Dame with the research needs of the Church, especially as we’re looking at the problems of the world and helping those who are afflicted, particularly the most vulnerable members of our human community.”
Among those invited to participate in the Global Alliance’s inaugural meeting was Br. Adolf Mugume, C.S.C., Director of Communications for the Holy Cross General Administration. Br. Mugume is one of the founders of the Laudato Youth Initiative, which began in Uganda in 2020 and has since spread to other countries in East Africa, uniting and animating young people to live out the principles outlined in Laudato Si’.
“I was glad to see that a main focus of the alliance is to help schools integrate integral ecology into their curriculums. There were also important conversations about other ways to engage youth,” said Br. Mugume. “I was glad to share our experience in East Africa with the Laudato Youth Initiative, especially the many Laudato Si’ Clubs that have been formed in schools, parishes, and communities. The future of our earth is in the hands of the young.”
It is particularly in the realm of education of the next generations that Br. Mugume sees that Holy Cross has much to offer the Church and the wider world on the issues of justice, peace, and integrity of creation.
“In Holy Cross, we are dedicated to educating the youth in the faith. Our founder, Blessed Basile Moreau, spoke of forming worthy citizens not just for heaven, but also for earth. Through the Scriptures, we know that God has asked us to care for this earth that He gave us as our common home. Integral ecology is an essential dimension of living out our faith in action and putting into practice our preferential option for the poor,” said Br. Mugume.
Harnessing the momentum and energy created at this first meeting, the Global Alliance hopes to continue advancing on three main goals: “to form a global network of leaders and institutions focused on sustainability, to create thematic working groups for developing research plans and educational curricula on sustainability, and to strengthen Catholic visibility and contributions to international sustainability dialogue.”
“We emerge from this first gathering of the Global Alliance with a renewed sense of purpose and hope,” said Fr. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., President of the University of Notre Dame. “These interdisciplinary research and education initiatives reflect our commitment to an integral ecology that recognizes the deep connections between environmental sustainability and human dignity and flourishing. We look forward to the many ways this collaboration will serve the common good and advance care for our common home in the days ahead.”
We credit and thank Donatella Parisi for the group picture of the Global Alliance and Alessandro Sgarito for the pictures of Fr. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., at the Mass, and of the attendees in one of the meeting’s sessions.