CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy (AP) — The Vatican is inaugurating an ambitious educational center inspired by Pope Francis’ ecological legacy. It’s opening a 55-acre utopian experiment in sustainable farming, vocational training and environmental schooling for kids and CEOs alike on the grounds of the papal estate on Lake Albano. Pope Leo XIV will formally open the center Friday, returning to the estate where he spent his first papal summer. He’ll tour the lush gardens, vineyards and farm of Castel Gandolfo and celebrate a liturgy for the staff who have been working since 2022 to turn Francis’ ecological preaching into practice.
By Nicole Winfield, Associated Press
Banner image: A view of the gardens inside the Vatican estate in Castel Gandolfo, near Rome, Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)
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