Over 30 Irish representatives joined Pope Leo XIV and global leaders for the Raising Hope Conference marking 10 years of Laudato Sì
Castel Gandolfo, October 2025
More than 30 people from across Ireland took part in the international Raising Hope Conference in Castel Gandolfo, near Rome, marking the tenth anniversary of Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Sì and the Paris Agreement.
Among the Irish participants were Eamon Ryan, former TD and long-time leader of the Green Party, representatives from the Northern Ireland Interfaith Forum, the Dublin City Interfaith Forum, and the leader of Corrymeela, Ireland’s leading centre for peace and reconciliation.
A bridge between faith, politics and action
Delegates joined almost 1,000 participants from more than 80 countries for three days of reflection, dialogue, and prayer on the theme of “integral ecological conversion.”
Pope Leo XIV opened the conference by blessing a block of glacial ice from Greenland, symbolising the “cry of the Earth and the poor.”
From Northern Ireland, John McLenaghan, Deputy President of the Ulster Farmers’ Union, described the conference as “a powerful opportunity to share the positive work our farmers are doing to move toward more sustainable practices.”
Fr Niall Leahy SJ, Director of the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice, reflected that “Raising Hope was an extraordinary gathering of hearts and minds seeking to live Laudato Si’ in action.”
Westcourt Photo Exhibition and Irish partnerships
A highlight of the Irish contribution was Belfast’s Westcourt Centre for Social Justice Photo Exhibition, “Our Common Home”, first presented in Rome in collaboration with the UK Embassy to the Holy See before being displayed at Castel Gandolfo during the conference. The exhibition invited participants to reflect through image and story on humanity’s shared responsibility for creation.
Trócaire, Ireland’s agency for global justice and development, played a central role in the moving prayer and reflection moments that shaped the spiritual rhythm of the event.
Dr Lorna Gold, Executive Director of the Laudato Sì Movement and Chair of the Organising Committee, thanked the Irish delegation, saying:
“Ireland has been a beacon of dialogue and practical commitment to care for our common home.”
Commitments for the decade ahead
The conference concluded with the launch of the Laudato Sì 10 Pledge: a global commitment by faith communities to act for ecological justice. Participants took home some of the ‘Raising Hope water’, blessed by the Pope, to be carried symbolically to COP30 in Brazil.
Ireland’s strong, diverse presence, political, interfaith, rural and faith-based, underlined its growing role as a bridge between North and South, faith and action, and rural and urban communities.
The time for ecological conversion is now. Together, let’s raise hope.”