Pope meets with energy leaders from Latin America and Caribbean

By Kielce Gussie

Pope Leo XIV’s first Urbi et Orbi blessing urged everyone to build bridges through dialogue and encounter, and called everyone to work together as a people towards peace. As a result, a synodal meeting took place on the morning of January 24 at the Vatican with a small group of business leaders from the energy and critical minerals sectors operating in Latin America and the Caribbean.

This was the seventh meeting in a series that began in 2022 under the Building Bridges Initiative, coordinated by the Pontifical Commission for Latin America (PCAL) as part of the mission entrusted by Pope Francis, and in collaboration with then-Cardinal Robert Prevost, President of the PCAL.

Its goal has been to build bridges of inclusion with universities; bridges of reconciliation with labor unions, business associations, and organized communities; and bridges of fraternity with regional episcopal and ecclesial conferences.

The how behind it

In order to achieve this mission, the Building Bridges Initiative includes attentive listening to territorial needs and aspirations for care of our common home and decent work. It also looks to a shared social discernment among diverse territorial organizations in light of the Pontifical Social Magisterium and the initiation of processes toward a just transition.

To date, six synodal encounters have been held between bishops and various actors from across the Americas:

1.     between bishops and academics, CELAM 2022;

2.     between Pope Francis and university students from the Americas, Africa, and Asia, Vatican City, 2022–2023;

3.     between Pope Francis and university rectors from Latin America and the Caribbean, Vatican City 2023;

4.     between bishops, labor unions, business associations, and organized communities from Latin America and the Caribbean, CELAM 2024;

5.     between bishops and university rectors from North, Central, and South America, as well as Ibero-America, receiving the first video message from Pope Leo XIV, PUC Rio de Janeiro 2025;

6.     between bishops, labor unions, business associations, and organized communities from North, Central, and South America, USCCB 2025.

What happens next?

From these meetings, a proposal came for three sectors in Latin America and the Caribbean to meet with the Holy Father to dialogue on the needs and aspirations presented by the cardinals to the Holy See press. These were “Life hangs by a thread” (CELAM, December 9, 2024) and “A call for climate justice and the Common Home” (CELAM, SECAM, and FABC, July 1, 2025).

PCAL convened this seventh meeting on January 24 to build bridges of dialogue for peace amid tensions caused by economic development—dependent on critical minerals—and the call for socio-climatic justice as a condition for abundant life for all (Jn 10:10).

At the encounter, a small group of business leaders were invited to share their perspectives on the threats and opportunities facing the sector in Latin America and the Caribbean, and to discern together what to anticipate, promote, and hope for.

Originally, this meeting was scheduled for January 24, 2025, with Pope Francis. Yet, due to his health, it was postponed at the request of Cardinal Prevost, the President of PCAL. Before the private audience with Pope Leo, the group gathered for a breakfast coordinated by PCAL.