An unprecedented meeting bringing together institutional representatives of organized labor from the Global North and South of the Americas will take place in Washington, DC, to initiate just transition processes for the care of Our Common Home, both socially and environmentally, through a synodal, inclusive, and interinstitutional approach.

Organized by the Latin American and Caribbean Episcopal Council (CELAM) and the Pontifical Commission for Latin America (PCAL) through the Building Bridges Initiative, with the support of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), the Third Fratelli Tutti Synodal Encounter: North–South Socio-Environmental Dialogue will be held on July 28–29, 2025, in Washington, DC.

In continuity with the synodal process initiated in 2021 and in direct response to Pope Leo XIV’s call to be a Church that builds bridges, this encounter aims to bring together, from a continental perspective, institutional representatives of organized labor from North America, South America, Central America, and the Caribbean: regional labor confederations; regional business associations; and federally organized communities of the social and popular economy. This gathering represents a key step in building bridges of integration, reconciliation, and fraternity, and a concrete opportunity to walk together, as a continental community, toward integral, just, and sustainable human development.

The Third Encounter builds on the spirit of the previous stages held in Bogotá (2023 and 2024) and seeks to project concrete actions toward 2026, with the hope of engaging in dialogue with Pope Leo XIV on the paths of this synodal process.

The event is organized in collaboration with the Justice and Peace Department of the USCCB, and with the support of the International Labour Organization (ILO), the International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC), and the Organización de Estados Iberoamericanos (OEI), among other regional, ecclesial, and academic institutions.