Pope Leo XIV. Photo courtesy of Anadolu.
As envisioned in Pope Francis’ 2024 Motu Proprio ‘Fratello Sole’ that leans toward a sustainable development model for energy sourcing and consumption, the Vatican is reportedly looking into an agrivoltaic project to power up several of its vital installations.
According the Vatican News, Pope Leo XIV has established the Fratello Sole or Brother Sun Foundation which will promote the new project as a means of providing energy both to the Radio Vatican transmission center and the Vatican City state itself.
The American pontiff expressed his keen interest in the project, urging its implementors “(to) proceed without delay in making visible and tangible” the commitment to “establish an agrivoltaic plant within the extraterritorial area of Santa Maria di Galleria.”
Sources disclosed that the installation is expected to be capable not only of supplying electricity to the Vatican’s radio transmission station located there, but also of ensuring the complete energy self-sufficiency for the world’s smallest independent state.”
They added that this is the objective outlined by the pope his Chirograph last Monday, through which he established the Fratello Sole Foundation, with the aim of “promoting a transition toward a sustainable development model.”
The project had already been encouraged by the late Pope Francis in his Apostolic Letter issued motu proprio in June 2024.
“The establishment of the Foundation takes into account the aforementioned Motu Proprio and the subsequent agreement signed with the Italian authorities in July 2025 and entered into force on this May 27 2026,” Leo cited.
Accordingly, the Foundation has been described to represent a sign of hope for the future and an example of how energy production and agriculture can be harmonized while respecting and protecting the environment.
“(This is) in accordance with the principles of environmental sustainability and care for our common home outlined in the Encyclical Laudato Si’, the Apostolic Exhortation Laudate Deum, the Motu Proprio Fratello Sole and, more broadly, in the Church’s social teaching,” the pope pointed out.
Leo’s Chirograph states: “The Foundation has its legal seat in Vatican City State and carries out its full operational activity within the extraterritorial area of Santa Maria di Galeria.”
The newly established body will be governed by its own Statutes, which the pope simultaneously approves and promulgates through the present Chirograph.
For the first three years, Sister Raffaella Petrini has been appointed as president of the Governorate of Vatican City State while Bishop Giordano Piccinotti was assigned as president of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See (APSA). The two officials have also been named as president and vice president, respectively, of the ‘Brother Sun’ Foundation.