Press Release
March 6, 2026. Is it possible not to feel alone in nurturing the desire to commit to caring for our common home, responding together to the cry of the poor and the Earth, while “keeping alive the hunger and thirst for justice, rescuing it from resignation, and educating it so that it becomes prayer and responsibility toward others”? Yes—this is the answer that the global Laudato Si’ Movement offers during this Lent, by opening registrations for the 2026 edition of the Laudato Si’ Animators Formation (link to the program), promoted in Italy by the Laudato Si’ Movement together with 39 partner organizations, including the National Office for Social Issues and Labour of the Italian Episcopal Conference. The aim is to inspire and mobilize the Catholic community to walk together in caring for our common home and to make a difference together!
The invitation to register during Lent, registrations will remain open until April 8 at the following link, echoes clearly the words of Pope Leo XIV in his Lenten Message, namely in recognizing that “the condition of the poor represents a cry that, throughout human history, constantly challenges our lives, our societies, political and economic systems and, not least, the Church” (…) “Let us commit ourselves so that our communities become places where the cry of those who suffer is welcomed and listening generates paths of liberation, making us more ready and eager to contribute to building the civilization of love.”
The online course runs for four weeks on Wednesdays from 6:00 PM to 7:45 PM, starting on April 15, with the possibility of attending asynchronously and, for the first time, also locally in person together with Laudato Si’ Circles. A special program will feature the new Bishop of Assisi, symbolically highlighting how the course takes place from where Saint Francis heard Jesus’ invitation: “Go and repair my house,” the mission entrusted to all new Animators. There will be many testimonies: from Cardinal Lojudice to the band The Sun, from bishops from Brazil and Aversa to young people, from scientists and experts from the Focolare Movement and the World Farmers Markets Coalition – Fondazione Campagna Amica (Coldiretti), and many others, “all connected” in giving voice to the different charisms within and beyond the Movement, for a formation that is as holistic and action-oriented as possible.
Editors’ Notes
The Laudato Si’ Movement announces the opening of registrations for the 2026 edition of the Laudato Si’ Animators Formation, aimed at inspiring and mobilizing the Catholic community to walk together in caring for our common home and making a difference together. This year, Pope Leo XIV has announced a Franciscan Jubilee Year, continuing the wave of enthusiasm and hope experienced in 2025, also thanks to his participation in the International Conference “Raising Hope,” promoted by the Laudato Si’ Movement and held in Castel Gandolfo on October 1. On that occasion, he pronounced the phrase that inspires this 2026 course: “If there is anyone truly heroic among us this afternoon, it is all of you, who work together to make a difference!”
In this context, the program offered for this formation includes particularly relevant and meaningful speakers and experiences. The online course runs for four weeks on Wednesdays from 6:00 PM to 7:45 PM. In addition to the possibility of attending asynchronously, this year’s novelty is that, for the first time, participants will also be able to attend together with Laudato Si’ Circles that choose to host community screenings of the course, creating from the outset a welcoming and supportive environment for new Animators in training. Registrations will be open until April 8 at the following link.
The “Laudato Si’ Animators Formation Program” is the core program of the Laudato Si’ Movement globally and will take place worldwide in English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Hungarian, and Polish. It responds to the Church’s call for all the faithful to care for Creation by joining a global community of prayer and action, encouraging parishes, local communities, associations, and movements to engage in ecological spirituality, sustainable lifestyles, and the defense of climate and ecological justice. There are currently 18,000 Laudato Si’ Animators worldwide. In Italy, the program began in 2019, and the Italian network includes more than 3,500 Animators and 190 active Laudato Si’ Circles. Thanks to this active community of Animators, Circles, and member organizations, many seeds of hope were sown last year, such as the seminar “From Energy to the Heart of Enrico Mattei: A New Energy for Africa’s Self-Development” and the Call to Responsibility for the Ecological Transition: from debates to dialogue, from words to action.
This year, the course will open on April 15 with Professor Stefania Papa, lecturer in Ecology at the Department of Environmental, Biological and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies at the University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli,” who will provide a scientific framework to understand the ongoing climate crisis. This will be followed by Father Dario Bossi, coordinator of the Comboni Missionaries in Brazil, on the impact of intensive livestock farming in the Amazon, and Carmelo Troccoli, Director General of the World Farmers Markets Coalition and Fondazione Campagna Amica (Coldiretti), who will share testimony on short supply chains and farmers’ markets as a sustainable alternative.
A particularly intense spiritual moment is scheduled for April 22, on the occasion of Earth Day and the first anniversary of the passing of Pope Francis (April 21, 2025). Cardinal Augusto Paolo Lojudice, who joined fossil fuel divestment with the Archdiocese of Siena-Colle di Val d’Elsa-Montalcino and the Diocese of Montepulciano-Chiusi-Pienza for COP30 in Brazil, will present the theological foundations of integral ecology. The session will also include a reflection by Don Gaetano Corvasce, parish priest and judge at the Apulian ecclesiastical tribunal, on commitment to caring for our common home in light of Pope Francis’ latest encyclical Dilexit Nos (“He Loved Us”).
On April 29, the formation will ideally move to Assisi with the intervention of Monsignor Felice Accrocca, the new Bishop of the city of Saint Francis, symbolically emphasizing continuity from where Saint Francis heard Jesus’ call: “Go and repair my house.” He will offer a meditation on ecological conversion inspired by Saint Francis. The meeting will also feature testimony from Francesco Lorenzi, leader of the band The Sun. Their single “Appunti verso la fine del mondo,” winner of the Catholic Music Award for Best Video Clip, tells the story of a father reflecting on his children’s future in uncertain times.
The program will also give significant space to youth protagonism, with contributions from Francesco Costa, head of Youth Ministry of the Diocese of Catanzaro-Squillace, presenting the experience of “OIKOS APS – Center for the Integral Human Development of Youth,” and, in the following session on May 6, from Monsignor Angelo Spinillo, Bishop of Aversa, where youth involvement in Church life is particularly strong, as witnessed by the Laudato Si’ Circle Vanvitelli of Aversa.
The program will continue with testimony from Monsignor Giuseppe Luigi Spiga, Bishop of Grajaú and fidei donum missionary in Brazil, offering insight into the importance of caring for our common home for Amazonian peoples and how indigenous communities can be teachers of community life. Special attention will also be given to the Laudato Si’ Action Platform of the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, presented as a valuable guide for community conversion.
In all modules, Laudato Si’ Animators and Circles will share concrete testimonies of how they animate their local contexts in integral ecology, sharing both joys and challenges.
The program in Italy is promoted together with 39 partner organizations, including the National Office for Social Issues and Labour of the Italian Episcopal Conference, Catholic associations and movements, and religious congregations. A new development for 2026 is the collaboration with the Pontifical Theological Faculty of Southern Italy (St. Thomas section), thanks to the Community of the Diaconate in Italy—an important partnership to foster the integration of integral ecology into the ordinary pastoral life of parishes and dioceses.
At the end of the program, upon completion of their “seed project,” participants will receive an official certificate and join the global community of Laudato Si’ Animators. From that moment, they will be supported by the Laudato Si’ Movement in animating their communities and contexts of engagement, including through the creation of Laudato Si’ Circles.
Statements
Veronica Coraddu, Coordinator of Laudato Si’ Animators and Circles Italy and course coordinator, stated:
“This year we have an important task: we must carry forward the legacy of Pope Francis while Pope Leo encourages us to continue our mission of caring for our common home. We must not forget the beautiful emotions that 2025 gave us; rather, we must use them to share our enthusiasm with everyone we meet, take them by the hand, and invite them to join us!”
Cecilia Dall’Oglio, Head of Italian Programs of the Laudato Si’ Movement:
“Our proposal during this Lent finds support and encouragement in the words of Pope Leo XIV in his Ash Wednesday homily on the long and difficult conversion of the ‘structures of sin’ of economic, cultural, political, and even religious order. We need Laudato Si’ Animators who respond to the call to ‘feel, in the ashes imposed on us, the weight of a world that is burning…’ and who join the global family of Animators, strengthening their own identities within a synodal journey of renewal for the Church and society.”
More information about the program is available here.
Registrations are open at laudatosianimatori.org.
For information about the course: veronica@laudatosimovement.org
Press kit:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qbuuXWlkm12rsft77fngqn2kJRPmyq8Bd7FTrrnTNMw/edit?usp=sharing
Media contact:
Veronica Coraddu
Coordinator, Laudato Si’ Animators and Circles Italy
veronica@laudatosimovement.org
Tel: +39 349 3660648
