Raising Hope: from an encounter with Pope Leo XIV to a global movement for our common home

Raising Hope had to be far more than a commemoration. It needed to honour the legacy of Laudato Si', renew the Church's leadership on integral ecology and project a global call to action ahead of COP30.

That meant coordinating a highly complex international event in a matter of weeks:

• The participation of Pope Leo XIV and the relationship with several Holy See bodies.
• Close to 1,000 participants from 80 countries.
• Dozens of speakers, moderators, artists and international leaders.
• A three-day programme of talks, panels, prayer, music, encounters and symbolic acts.
• An official press conference at the Holy See Press Office.
• Accreditation, travel, accommodation, volunteering and participant care.
• Communications and content in English, Italian, Spanish, French and Portuguese.
• International press coverage and live broadcast.

The real task was aligning many teams and organisations, resolving institutional and logistical questions and building a shared narrative without losing the spiritual dimension of the gathering.

We led the direction and general coordination of the project in its final phase, becoming the connecting point between the Laudato Si' Movement, the Vatican, partners, speakers, media and the different production teams. Our work covered five main areas.

We led global project oversight, coordination between teams and the resolution of the critical issues that made the gathering possible.

We worked with the Dicastery for Communication and the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, Vatican Media, the Holy See Press Office, the Focolare Movement, Kite Insights and the other partner organisations.

We also supported the relationship with speakers, moderators, musicians, institutional representatives and international figures, reconciling their needs with the programme and the goals of the conference.

We designed and coordinated the invitation, registration and communication flows for attendees, guests, ambassadors, journalists and volunteers. This included:

• Registration forms, media accreditation and volunteering.
• Tracking of places, payments and pending registrations.
• Practical communications on access, schedules, transport and security.
• Coordination of flights, accommodation and speaker requirements.
• Support channels and distribution of logistical documentation.
• Segmented communication before, during and after the conference.

We managed several operational aspects of the relationship with the Holy See:

• Coordination of the 30 September press conference at the Holy See Press Office.
• Management of Vatican News coverage.
• Coordination with Vatican Media for the production and broadcast of the encounter with the Pope.
• Preparation of briefing materials adapted to Vatican protocols.
• Coordination of accreditation and journalist access.
• Invitations to and participation of dicasteries and diplomatic representatives accredited to the Holy See.

Vatican Media produced and internationally distributed the 1 October celebration, presided over by Pope Leo XIV.

We developed a multilingual strategy so that Raising Hope could reach both the media and the communities connected to the participating organisations. The work included:

• Press releases and briefing materials.
• Invitations and communications for journalists.
• Accreditation forms and procedures.
• Content kits for social media and partner organisations.
• Pre-event newsletters and daily conference coverage.
• Materials in English, Italian, Spanish, French and Portuguese.
• Coordination of interviews with more than 50 voices in climate justice.
• Production and distribution of photography, video and documents for media.

The gathering drew professionals and outlets from many countries, among them Vatican News, TV Globo, Radio Nacional de España, Down to Earth, Pèlerin and Alfa y Omega, with further international coverage from agencies and media such as Associated Press and Religion News Service.

One of the central goals was to make sure the anniversary did not end up as a purely retrospective celebration.

The conference therefore closed with the People-Determined Contributions: personal, community and institutional commitments in the face of the climate crisis, organised around the seven Laudato Si' goals.

Pope Leo XIV blessing a block of ice from Greenland became the defining visual symbol of the gathering. At the end of the conference the resulting water was shared among participants and later carried to COP30 in Brazil — a simple, powerful image connecting spirituality, communication and commitment.