{"id":95571,"date":"2026-10-16T16:42:08","date_gmt":"2026-10-16T14:42:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/?p=95571"},"modified":"2026-10-16T16:44:28","modified_gmt":"2026-10-16T14:44:28","slug":"pope-leo-xivs-former-university-holds-second-international-sustainability-conference-despite-his-absence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/2026\/10\/16\/pope-leo-xivs-former-university-holds-second-international-sustainability-conference-despite-his-absence\/","title":{"rendered":"Pope Leo XIV\u2019s Former University Holds Second International Sustainability Conference Despite His Absence"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Hames Haupt<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For Pope Leo XIV, sustainability is a moral responsibility. Building on Pope Francis\u2019 mission to protect our \u201ccommon home,\u201d Pope Leo XIV has continued to emphasize the connection between environmental care, human dignity, and the protection of the most vulnerable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This vision is reflected in Villanova University\u2019s 2026 International Sustainability Conference, which has been held in Rome from October 12 to October 16. It\u2019s the second edition of the biennial conference with the first taking place in 2024 at Villanova University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>FR. JOHN ABUBAKAR<br>Villanova University\u2019s Chief Sustainability Officer<br><\/strong><em>It\u2019s been a very enriching moment for us. Time spent together to build community, to encourage people to think a little more about this very pressing, important issues of our time.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The theme of the conference is <em>Responding to the Cries of the Earth and the Poor<\/em>. It included over 100 lightning talks and three keynote speakers. There were about 350 participants from 30 different countries in attendance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>FR. JOHN ABUBAKAR<br>Villanova University\u2019s Chief Sustainability Officer<br><\/strong><em>18 countries are based in the global south. We were able to get funding for scholarships for about 50 participants.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This year\u2019s conference marked the debut of the Pope Leo XIV Sustainability Medal, a new award established by the university to recognize leaders in sustainability. It was instituted as a way of honoring the alumn of Villanova, as a platform to advance commitment to care for the environment and the poor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pope Leo XIV was initially scheduled to present the award on Tuesday, October 13, but couldn\u2019t attend due to his surgery and recovery. Instead, Villanova President Father Peter M. Donahue presented the medal to Cardinal Czerny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Cardinal Czerny, who recently retired as Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, was the first recipient of this inaugural award, recognized for his climate justice and human rights efforts. He also served as a keynote speaker on the following day of the conference<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>FR. JOHN ABUBAKAR<br>Villanova University\u2019s Chief Sustainability Officer<\/strong><br><em>And today we had Cardinal Czerny, the first recipient of the medal. He spoke largely around ethical involvement, and, you know, the moral dimension of our lives and as far as care for creation is concerned.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Villanova University and all those involved in the conference hope that it encourages people to do more and results in concrete action that can be recorded for the next conference in two years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For Pope Leo XIV, sustainability is a moral responsibility. Building on Pope Francis\u2019 mission to protect our \u201ccommon home,\u201d Pope Leo XIV has continued to emphasize the connection between environmental care, human dignity, and the protection of the most vulnerable.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":758,"featured_media":95567,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"acf":{"video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/9m5-SmBfCLw","video_descarga":"https:\/\/attuale.romereports.com\/news\/bvillanovasustainabilitymedaleng.mp4","international_url":"https:\/\/attuale.romereports.com\/news\/bvillanovasustainabilitymedalint.mp4","type":"bn","newsletter":"si"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95571"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/758"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95571"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95571\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":95574,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95571\/revisions\/95574"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95567"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}