The Fratello Sole Foundation

The Fratello Sole Foundation is established on June 1, 2026 by Pope Leo XIV through a papal Chirograph. The Pope, at the same time, approved its Statutes.

The Foundation has its registered office in Vatican City State and carries out its full operational activities in the extraterritorial area of Santa Maria di Galeria, north of Rome.

Indeed, the Foundation was created with the aim of building and managing - including from a financial perspective - an agrivoltaic plant in Santa Maria di Galeria that will ensure not only the electricity needs of all the existing facilities and those under development on the site, but also the complete energy self-sufficiency of Vatican City State.

This Foundation seeks to achieve the goal of serving as an example of how energy production and agriculture can be reconciled while respecting and protecting the environment, in accordance with the principles of environmental sustainability and care for our common home contained in the social Magisterium of the Church and set forth by Pope Francis in the Encyclical Laudato si’, the Apostolic Exhortation Laudate Deum, and the Motu Proprio Fratello Sole of 21 June 2024.

For the first three-year term, the Pontiff has appointed the President of the Governorate of Vatican City State and the President of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See as President and Vice President, respectively, of the Foundation.