The Fratello Sole Foundation has its roots in Pope Francis’s Apostolic Letter issued Motu Proprio Fratello Sole, of 21 June 2024, by which the President of the Governorate of Vatican City State and the President of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See were entrusted with “the task of constructing an agrivoltaic system within the extraterritorial area of Santa Maria di Galeria, which will ensure not only the electricity supply of the radio station located there, but also the complete energy supply of Vatican City State.”

In the Motu Proprio, Pope Francis recalled what he had already expressed in the Encyclical Laudato si’, in which he invited everyone to adopt more sustainable lifestyles and to use resources and energy more sparingly, as a concrete expression of love for the Earth and for others.

As Pope Francis stated, achieving the goal of climate neutrality requires changes in behavior and habits, as well as the promotion of a sustainable development model capable of reducing greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere.

The path initiated by Pope Francis reached its institutional fulfillment on 1 June 2026, when Pope Leo XIV established the Fratello Sole Foundation to implement and manage the agrivoltaic project and activities related to sustainable development.

The Foundation was established to reconcile energy production with agriculture while respecting and protecting the environment, in accordance with the principles of environmental sustainability and care for our common home.

The full text of the Chirograph of the Supreme Pontiff Leo XIV establishing the Fratello Sole Foundation, together with the Foundation’s Statutes, is available by clicking the button below: