Vatican international academic and ethical congresses

The Vatican and associated religious institutions have hosted international academic and theological gatherings in Rome focused on social and biological ethics.

In mid-September 2026, the Leone XIV Study Center held its inaugural workshop, ‘Let everything be yours in common. The Frontiers of Poverty’, at the Pontifical Augustinianum Institute. The event examined modern dimensions of poverty through Augustinian teachings. Following the workshop, Pope Leo XIV granted an audience to participants, emphasizing the role of the Social Doctrine of the Church in addressing modern social and economic contexts.

In October 2026, the focus shifted to bioethics with an international congress titled ‘The Splendor of the Human: Guarding Fertility, Treating Infertility’. Hosted at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, the event commemorated the 25th anniversary of the Paolo VI International Scientific Institute and the 50th anniversary of the Center for Natural Fertility Regulation. The congress brought together specialists in science, medicine, and ethics to discuss topics such as preconception health and the impact of hyper-technology on human dignity and reproduction.