The Pope Leo XIV International Study Center is a cultural and educational institution arising from the charismatic tradition of the Order of Saint Augustine. It officially begins its activity on 1 January 2026 as a Third Sector Entity established pursuant to Legislative Decree 117/2017. The Center is located in the historical premises of the Basilica of Santo Spirito in Florence, a place deeply marked by spirituality, beauty and a long-standing tradition of intellectual openness.
Its establishment was decreed by the Prior General of the Order of Saint Augustine, Fr. Alejandro Moral Anton, in agreement with the Provincial Prior of Italy, Fr. Gabriele Pedicino, who recognized in this project an initiative of cultural and social service fully aligned with the Augustinian tradition.
The Center was created in response to the calls of Pope Leo XIV, who encourages the Church and society to rediscover with renewed commitment the heritage of the Social Doctrine of the Church in order to address the challenges of contemporary times. In this spirit, the Center aims to foster education to public and political life in its highest sense: a politics understood as responsibility for the common good, as the exercise of civic virtue, and as the building of relationships grounded in unity and the dignity of the human person.
Pope Leo XIV has given his assent to the creation of a Center bearing his name as a source of inspiration. His support gives the project a profound character: the desire to overcome the culture of suspicion, fear and unchecked individualism, and to promote instead an open, fraternal, and internationally cooperative social vision.