Pope establishes Foundation to implement Vatican agrivoltaic project

By Daniele Piccini

To “proceed without delay in making visible and tangible” the commitment to “establish an agrivoltaic plant within the extraterritorial area of Santa Maria di Galeria, capable not only of supplying electricity to the radio transmission station located there, but also of ensuring the complete energy self-sufficiency of Vatican City State.”

This is the objective outlined by Pope Leo XIV in a Chirograph dated 1 June 2026, through which he established the “Fratello Sole” Foundation, with the aim of “promoting a transition toward a sustainable development model.”

The project had already been encouraged by the late Pope Francis in his Apostolic Letter issued motu proprio, Fratello Sole, on 21 June 2024. The establishment of the Foundation, the Pope notes, takes into account “the aforementioned Motu Proprio and the subsequent agreement signed with the Italian authorities on 31 July 2025 and entered into force on 27 May 2026.”

The Foundation represents a sign of hope for the future and an example of how energy production and agriculture can be harmonized while respecting and protecting the environment, in accordance with the principles of environmental sustainability and care for our common home outlined in the Encyclical Laudato Si’, the Apostolic Exhortation Laudate Deum, the Motu Proprio Fratello Sole, and, more broadly, in the Church’s social teaching.

“The Foundation,” the Chirograph states, “has its legal seat in Vatican City State and carries out its full operational activity within the extraterritorial area of Santa Maria di Galeria.” The newly established body will be governed by its own Statutes, which the Pope simultaneously approves and promulgates through the present Chirograph.

For the first three years, the Pope has appointed Sister Raffaella Petrini, President of the Governorate of Vatican City State, and Bishop Giordano Piccinotti, President of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See (APSA), as President and Vice President, respectively, of the “Brother Sun” Foundation.