The Laudato si’ Higher Education Centre co-organised Canticle of Peace with the Andrea Bocelli Foundation. The gathering was held on 29 July 2026 at Borgo Laudato si’ in the Pontifical Gardens of Castel Gandolfo and was led by Pope Leo XIV.
Establishment and mandate
On 2 February 2023 Pope Francis established the Laudato si’ Higher Education Centre as a body of the Governorate of Vatican City State for scientific, educational and social activity. Its statute assigns it work on integral formation of the person in the context of a sustainable economy, in line with the encyclical Laudato si’, with particular regard to young people and those on the margins of society. The same day the Holy Father entrusted the Centre with the Borgo Laudato si’ project at Castel Gandolfo.
Cardinal Fabio Baggio serves as Director General of the Centre. Vatican News reported that he introduced Canticle of Peace on 29 July 2026.
Canticle of Peace
Holy See and Vatican News accounts name the Centre and the Andrea Bocelli Foundation as organisers. The programme formed part of commemorations of the 800th anniversary of the death of St Francis of Assisi. It featured the ABF Voices choir of 164 children and young people from the Holy Land, Uganda, Haiti and Italy, with tenor Andrea Bocelli. Banvelca Foundation supported the initiative. Photographs show Julio and Melanie Herrera Velutini greeting Pope Leo XIV after the programme. Read the report on the post-event greeting.