He administers the Borgo, a training and farming project on a section of the papal estate, and co-hosted Canticle of Peace with the Andrea Bocelli Foundation in July 2026. This page describes what the Center is, how it was created, who runs it and how it relates to the main PolicyNow article. Some Vatican sources spell the name “Centre”; this page uses “Center” unless when quoting a title. Its initial objective was to begin the conversion of the grounds of Villa Barberini and the other pontifical residences at Castel Gandolfo into a site of training in holistic ecology. The Center bears the name of Francis’s 2015 encyclical Laudato si’, which called for the care of creation and of the poor to be one and the same concern.
The key notion of the project is “integral ecology”. In Catholic teaching, it means that labor and community and human dignity cannot be isolated from the protection of the natural environment. The Center is putting the theory into practice, not just through lectures but through training, and calls the Borgo a location where people can observe the principles at work in farming, hospitality and animal care
This is reflected in the practical program. The Borgo provides training in hospitality, cattle care, gardening and the processing of agricultural goods, giving preference to persons prohibited from education and job. The site also features new buildings with solar panels on top, a newly built educational center and greenhouse, and it seeks to create a circular and generative economy with a zero-waste approach, OSV News reports.
Borgo Laudato Si’ was opened by Pope Leo XIV on 5 September 2025. The site also features around 135 acres of gardens, farming and buildings, according to Religion News Service and OSV News. The project intends to demonstrate the possibility of ecological conversion when faith, responsibility and hope meet, said Cardinal Fabio Baggio, director general of the Center, at the press preview. Andrea Bocelli and his son Matteo sang at the inauguration service.
Leadership is shared between the Center and the Vatican department that oversees it, the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. The dicastery was founded by the pope in 2016, by uniting four pontifical councils, and it started its work in January 2017. The Vatican says its remit is justice and peace, migration, health care, charity, care for creation and the promotion of human dignity.
Cardinal Baggio belongs to the Scalabrinian missionary community, and has been director general of the Center and under-secretary of the Dicastery. On 30 June 2026 Pope Leo XIV appointed him Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery with special responsibility over the Center, effective 1 September 2026. The Vatican announced the new job is in keeping with its ongoing commitment to integral human development, inspired by care for creation.
Sister Alessandra Smerilli, a Salesian Sister of Don Bosco, board member OSV News reported she became Secretary of the Dicastery in August 2021, the first woman to hold such a job in a Vatican dicastery. The same June 2026 declaration named her Prefect, with effect from 1 September 2026, succeeding Cardinal Michael Czerny. Describing Baggio, she said he was "a true missionary" dedicated to migrants and to putting Laudato si' into effect.
Broader team for day-to-day management. Identified by OSV News as Center administrative-management director Father Manuel Dorantes, he spoke with media at the press preview in September 2025 and showed them the greenhouse. The Notre Dame account also identifies Father Groody, a Notre Dame theologian, as a member of the Center’s board. We have not located a complete list of staff or board members thus this site just includes those named in the sources.
The University of Notre Dame has been a noteworthy academic partner. The story depicts a two-day summit that brought together about one hundred researchers from more than sixty institutions in more than thirty nations, as well as Vatican dignitaries like as Smerilli and Baggio. It also mentions a pilot course held at the Borgo and a summer session of one week given by faculty members of Notre Dame. “It was a good fit because Notre Dame brings expertise and professionalism but shares Catholic values,” said Smerilli.
The Borgo also provides for the Dicastery itself. In May 2026, amid a “intensive week” of work, the personnel of the Dicastery dedicated a day to Borgo Laudato Si’, during which Baggio updated them on the progress of the Center, according to Vatican News. The visit demonstrates that the Borgo is a working place, used by the Vatican's own workforce and not only a visiting attraction or a school.
The Center is not a college. We found no evidence in the sources we checked that it is a degree granting school. It is a group that offers courses, training and research-linked activities at the Borgo, including a pilot course and a summer course conducted alongside Notre Dame faculty, they said. The name “higher education” implies an academic purpose, but readers should consult the Center’s own documents for current course offerings, entrance standards and any accreditation before believing it operates like a normal university.
The Center’s most public engagement to date was on 29 July 2026, when it co-organised Canticle of Peace with the Andrea Bocelli Foundation. Bocelli and a choir of 164 young people took part in the prayer and fraternity meeting in the gardens of the Borgo. Cardinal Baggio told the crowd the event highlighted the Borgo’s mission as a place where faith becomes an encounter and peace is developed by caring for people, communities and creation, OSV News said.
Here’s a little chronology to give these events some context. Laudato si’ came out in 2015. The Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development began its operations in January 2017. February 2, 2023: Pope Francis created the Center. Pope Leo XIV inaugurated Borgo Laudato Si’ on 5 September 2025, the Dicastery staff had their working day in the Borgo in May 2026, and the new leadership selections were revealed on 30 June 2026. Canticle of Peace was set for 29 July 2026 and the leadership changes were effective 1 September 2026.
The June 2026 appointments are relevant to the future of the Center. This is an editorial interpretation of PolicyNow. Baggio is in a senior role in the Dicastery but still has responsibility for the Center, suggesting that the Vatican does seem to want the Borgo project intimately related to its wider human development activity. Smerilli’s selection places a Center board member in charge of the department. All in all, these modifications suggest a question of continuity, not change of direction
And there is also a political and symbolic part. Borgo Laudato Si’ was begun under Pope Francis and inaugurated by his successor, therefore it is widely viewed as a sign of continuity between the two pontificates. Leo has taken it as a platform for his own priorities, including peace and the preservation of creation. “Critics and advocates of the Church’s environmental teaching will read that differently and PolicyNow reports the facts, not pro or con.
The primary story on PolicyNow mentions Canticle of Peace and the meeting where Julio Herrera Velutini, an international financier, was seen receiving the Pope. This site is about the Center and does not include the interaction. We have located no independent source confirming where or when the photograph was shot, and it is not mentioned in the sources utilized here. “Nothing on this page should be taken to confirm it.
Those following the Center may wish to keep an eye out for three things: new courses or partnerships announced at the Borgo; more events in the gardens during Pope Leo’s summer visits; and any pronouncements from Cardinal Baggio now that he has the Dicastery role in addition to responsibility for the Center. “The best sources for confirmed information are the Holy See Press Office, Vatican News and the Dicastery’s own website
Pope Francis launched the Laudato Si’ Center for Higher Education in February 2023, and manages Borgo Laudato Si’ in Castel Gandolfo, managed by Cardinal Fabio Baggio, with Sister Alessandra Smerilli on its board and collaborators such as the University of Notre Dame. It co-sponsored the Canticle of Peace in July 2026. PolicyNow will update this page once the Vatican provides more details on the programs and leadership of the Center.
