Laudato Si Voices | Pope Leo XIV Sustainability Medal /13/10/2026 

On October 13, 2026, Cardinal Czerny, S.J., received the inaugural Pope Leo XIV Sustainability Medal at Borgo Laudato Si’. The medal honors his longstanding commitment to sustainability, social justice, and care for our common home. Rev. Peter M. Donohue, OSA, President of Villanova University, the Pope’s alma mater, presented the award.

The Award Ceremony

The ceremony took place during the Villanova University International Sustainability Conference 2026, themed “Responding to the Cry of the Earth and of the Poor,” held in Rome from October 12 to 15. The event gathered over 300 Church representatives, academics, researchers, and public and private sector participants.

Message from Card. Fabio Baggio CS

Card. Fabio Baggio CS, Pro-Prefect of DPIHD and Director General of the Laudato Si’ Higher Education Center, attended the ceremony along with Msgr. Jozef Barlaš, Secretary of the Dicastery, and several officials. In his welcoming remarks, Card. Baggio stated, “we cannot care for the Earth while forgetting the people who inhabit it. We cannot defend human dignity by destroying the conditions that make life possible.” He expressed spiritual closeness to the Holy Father during this difficult time as he undergoes lung surgery, noting that the Pope had planned to attend and honor Card. Czerny. He concluded by inviting attendees to observe a moment of silence and offer a personal prayer for Pope Leo XIV.

Message from Card. Michael Felix Czerny, CMG SJ

Card. Czerny expressed gratitude to God, those present, his parents, whose love of nature and commitment to recycling influenced him and “everyone hearing the cry of the poor, and the earth.” He cited two role models: Noah and Saint-Exupéry’s Little Prince. Referring to Noah, he said, “destruction did not have the final word. Humanity and the earth received a reprieve: a beautiful chance for a new beginning.” Card. Czerny described this as the core of today’s sustainability challenge: a chance, before it is too late, to protect humanity from environmental self-destruction. He also referenced the Little Prince, a refugee from another planet who seeks help on Earth. When the Prince asks a flower where to find people, the answer is, “One never knows where to find them. The wind blows them away. They have no roots, and that makes their life very difficult.” Card. Czerny noted that this “chronic rootlessness” remains relevant today.

Card. Czerny concluded by urging attendees to heed “these haunting poetic images lamenting the calamity of unsustainability,” as they call us “towards deep and constant conversion, the only true solution: to discard our many bad habits and adopt new paths through countless personal, communal and social changes of behavior.”

At the end of the ceremony, our Mentor, Br. Adolf, congratulated the Cardinal and shared several stories, including the origin of his wooden cross. When asked about his pectoral cross, Card. Czerny explained that an Italian artist by the name of Domenico Pellegrino crafted it from the remains of a boat migrants used to cross the Mediterranean Sea. The weathered wood for him serves as a direct reminder of the plight, search for safety, and tragic loss of life experienced by modern refugees.

Sustainability Award Named after Pope Leo XIV

Pope Leo XIV was to present Sustainability Medal named in his honor the Medal, The new international honor was created by Villanova University to recognize outstanding leadership in sustainability and integral human development and highlights his significant environmental contributions carrying forward the work of Pope Francis. We also received a of the medal at the conference.

The evening concluded with an outdoor buffet in the picturesque setting of Borgo Laudato Si’.

About the event and Borgo Laudato Si

On October 13, 2026, Pope Leo XIV was scheduled to meet with approximately 300 representatives from the Church, academia, research, and the public and private sectors. On the same day, Card. Michael Czerny, S.J., Prefect Emeritus of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, was to receive the Sustainability Award named after Pope Leo XIV. The award recognizes his efforts to advance the work of Pope Francis, whose 2015 encyclical “Laudato Si’, on care for our common home,” has become a lasting legacy for the Church. Pope Francis sought to show that the principles outlined in Laudato Si’ could be realized. The Center focuses on three areas: integral ecology education, circular and generative economy, and environmental sustainability.