Dear brothers and sisters, I want to send this greeting, a big greeting, to the Network of Universities for the Care of the Common Home. I know you are gathered at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro and that you have this beautiful occasion of the tenth anniversary of the Holy Father Francis’ document, the Encyclical Laudato si’.

I know you are about to carry out synodal work of discernment in preparation for COP30. You will reflect together on a possible remission of the public debt and of the ecological debt, a proposal that Pope Francis had suggested in his message for the World Day of Peace. And in this jubilee year, a year of hope, this message is so important.

I would like to encourage you, university rectors, in this mission you have taken on: to be builders of bridges of integration between the Americas and the Iberian Peninsula, working for ecological, social and environmental justice. I thank you all for your efforts and your work. I encourage you to continue to build bridges.

And I would like to conclude with a blessing, trusting that the grace of God may always be with you: may the blessing of God Almighty, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, descend upon you and accompany you always.

Amen.

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Holy See Press Office Bulletin, 20 May 2025