In response to the call issued by Pope Leo XIV in his first Urbi et Orbi blessing to help him build bridges through dialogue and encounter in order to foster peace, a synodal meeting was held at the Holy See with a small group of business leaders from the energy and critical minerals sectors operating in Latin America and the Caribbean.

This meeting was the seventh in a process that began in 2022 under the leadership of the Building Bridges Initiative coordinated by the Pontifical Commission for Latin America (PCAL), in fulfillment of the mission entrusted by Pope Francis, and accompanied by then-Cardinal Robert Prevost as President of the PCAL, to build: Bridges of Inclusion with universities; Bridges of Reconciliation with trade unions, business associations, and organized communities; and Bridges of Fraternity with episcopal conferences and regional ecclesial networks.

The meeting sought to identify threats and opportunities for the sector in the region and, through joint discernment, to outline future actions, with the hope of promoting a dignified and abundant life for all.

Prior to the private audience with the Pope, the business leaders took part in a working breakfast coordinated by Dr. Emilce Cuda, Secretary of the PCAL, during which the journey of the previous meetings was presented and the foundations were laid for the synodal dialogue that will continue throughout 2026.

This meeting is part of a broader series of dialogues promoted since 2022 by the Building Bridges Initiative, which fosters spaces for conversation among representatives of the Church, academia, the productive sector, trade unions, and social organizations across the Americas. Throughout this process, meetings have been held with bishops, university communities, workers, and business leaders from Latin America, the Caribbean, North America, Africa, and Asia.

From these encounters emerged the proposal that three sectors operating in Latin America and the Caribbean meet with the Holy Father to dialogue about the needs and dreams presented by the cardinals to the press at the Holy See: “Life Is Hanging by a Thread” (CELAM, December 9, 2024) and “A Call for Climate Justice and Care for Our Common Home” (CELAM, SECAM, and FABC, July 1, 2025).

With the desire to build bridges of dialogue for peace, and in light of the tensions that arise between the economic development that depends on critical minerals and the demand for socio-climatic justice as a condition for a good and abundant life for all (cf. Jn 10:10), the PCAL invited a small group of business leaders to this seventh meeting to listen, from their perspectives, to the threats and opportunities facing the sector in Latin America and the Caribbean, and to discern together what to anticipate, what to promote, and what to hope for within the framework of the care for our common home.

VATICAN NEWS Pope meets with energy leaders from Latin America and Caribbean