1. Project Presentation
For several years now, within today’s socio-cultural context, the crucial nature of the anthropological[1] “crisis” has been widely perceived. Partial diagnoses of the situation abound, but they are not sufficient, because “what is happening confronts us with the urgent need to embark on a courageous cultural revolution[2].” Pope Francis invited us to become aware of the fact that “today there emerges before our eyes […] ‘a great cultural, spiritual, and educational challenge that will entail long processes of regeneration,’ also for ecclesiastical Universities and Faculties[3].”
In line with this invitation, the research project aims to offer one possible response to the anthropological crisis, namely to re-found a culture of care, which constitutes the profound vocation of the human person[4]: care for the human being and his or her flourishing in the various dimensions of existence, such as relationships, the environment, the common good, artistic heritage, and the sacred. Pope Leo XIV has also repeatedly recalled how necessary it is today to care for others and for creation.
From the outset, the project has been designed in an interdisciplinary manner, seeking dialogue between philosophy and various disciplinary fields: psychology, ecology, medicine, theology, and aesthetics. This is reflected in the areas of expertise of the researchers.
At present, the researchers involved are as follows:
- Francesco Russo (Pontificia Università della Santa Croce, Principal Investigator)
- Luca Valera (Universidad de Valladolid e Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Principal Investigator)
- Giuseppe Curcio (Università degli Studi dell’Aquila)
- María Dolores Dimier de Vicente (Universidad Austral, Argentina)
- Nicola Di Stefano (Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Roma)
- Francesco Luigi Gallo (Istituto Istruzione Superiore IPSSEOA, Praia a mare, Italia)
- Rosa María Lastra (Queen Mary University of London, GB; Home Renaissance Foundation)
- Antonio Malo (Pontificia Università della Santa Croce)
- Juan Narbona (Pontificia Università della Santa Croce)
- Javier Pérez Wever (Universidad del Istmo, Guatemala)
- Juan Rego (Pontificia Università della Santa Croce)
- Olga Isabel Restrepo Castro (Universidad de la Sabana, Colombia)
- Paola Ricci Sindoni (Università degli Studi di Messina, Italia)
- Maria Teresa Russo (Università degli Studi Roma Tre)
- Víctor Torre de Silva (Pontificia Università della Santa Croce)
2. Activities carried out during the 2024–2025 academic year
The first activity promoted was the 6th Refresher Course for Teachers on the theme “In the Labyrinth of Desire. Multidisciplinary Pathways,” held at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross from 7 to 9 November 2024. The course fostered dialogue among ethics, anthropology, psychology, pedagogy, aesthetics, and social communication. In November 2025, the Proceedings (supplemented with additional contributions), edited by Nicola Di Stefano and Víctor Torre de Silva, were published in the series “Ifa – Essays,” issued by Edizioni Santa Croce. The course provided an opportunity to reflect on a fundamental anthropological structure, namely the dynamic of desire, which is involved in relationships of care: knowledge of the needs and desires inherent in human existence makes it possible to better understand oneself and others, in order to care for them.
A few months later, from 6 to 8 March 2025, the international conference “Perspectives on Altruism: Empathy, Compassion, Care” was held at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross. The conference addressed the topic from anthropological, ethical, sociological, psychiatric, economic, and theological perspectives. The chosen theme, broad in both interest and scope, made it possible to significantly expand the initial group of researchers. This was one of the main results achieved, since on that occasion the following joined the research project: the Home Renaissance Foundation (London), a faculty member from Universidad Austral (Argentina), a faculty member from Universidad de la Sabana (Colombia), a high school teacher (Praia a Mare, Italy), and ISCOM (Rome). The numerous papers presented (34 in total were accepted for presentation) were published in a section of the 2025 issue of the journal “Forum. Supplement to Acta Philosophica,” released in November 2025 and edited by I. Malagrinò, M. Savarese, and V. Torre de Silva; meanwhile, the keynote papers are currently in the process of being published in English in a series by the international publisher Palgrave Macmillan.
3. Activities planned for the 2025–2026 academic year
For the 2025–2026 academic year, the following activities are planned.
On 15 October 2025, in collaboration with ISCOM (a partner in the research project), a round table entitled “Migrants, Missionaries of Hope: Information as an Instrument of Truth” will be held at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross. The speakers will include H.E. Msgr. Giuseppe Baturi (Secretary of the Italian Bishops’ Conference – CEI), Maurizio Ambrosini (University of Milan), Fiammetta Borgia (University of Rome Tor Vergata), Chiara Tronchin (Leone Moressa Foundation), José Gálvez (Ethnic Compassion), Martina Morini (photographer), Francesco Russo (Pontifical University of the Holy Cross), Nello Scavo (journalist, Carta di Roma), Maria Annunziata Zegarelli (Order of Journalists), and Davide Demichelis (journalist and television presenter). The discussion will be moderated by Nicola Di Stefano (National Research Council), Francesca Cuomo (Centro Astalli), and Raffaele Iaria (SIR Agency). From different perspectives, the round table will focus on a social emergency that directly calls for a culture of care and has also been at the center of the attention of the Home Renaissance Foundation (another project partner), which published on this topic the multi-authored volume The Search for Home among Forced Migrants and Refugees: People on the Move (Routledge, 2024).
On 5 November 2025, an online workshop will be held on the theme “Addictions, Interdependence, and Relationships of Care.” The speakers will include Leonardo Allodi (University of Bologna), Chiara Giaccardi (Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Milan), and Panayotis Kantzas (psychoanalyst, Florence), moderated by Elena Colombetti (Pontifical University of the Holy Cross). The aim is to reflect on one aspect of contemporary culture that often hinders and leads to misunderstandings of relationships of care.
On 14 April 2026, the second international conference on the theme “Human Ecology: Dwelling as Care for the Environment and for Relationships” will take place at the Pontifical University of Salamanca (Spain). The speakers will include David Le Breton (University of Strasbourg), Alfredo Marcos (University of Valladolid), José-Abel Flores (University of Salamanca), Marta Llorente Díaz (University of Barcelona), Edoardo Agosta Scarel (Catholic University of Valencia), María Dolores Dimier De Vicente (Austral University, Argentina), and Luca Valera (University of Valladolid). To date, abstracts for 33 papers have been submitted. The conference will be preceded by a round table on the same theme, to be held on the evening of 13 April at a cultural center in Valladolid, with contributions by Prof. Maria Teresa Russo (Roma Tre University) and Prof. Luca Valera (University of Valladolid). The objective is to initiate reflection on another crucial theme of the culture of care, moving beyond superficial forms of environmentalism in order to identify the anthropological and scientific foundations of care for creation and for persons.
3.1 Activities planned for the year 2027
For the year 2027, the following activities are planned.
- Interdisciplinary conference on the theme: Pain, suffering, freedom from evil, 2027, University of Messina.
- Final workshop (autumn 2027).
4. State of the project
With regard to the project’s objectives, the general goal identified from the outset—namely, the interdisciplinary analysis of the culture of care in order to offer possible responses to the current anthropological crisis—has consistently remained in the background of the activities undertaken. As is evident from the initiatives promoted and the publications produced, the first two specific objectives have largely been achieved, namely: the study of the relationship between the notion of care and the essential dimensions of human experience; and an adequate understanding of the notions of vulnerability and fragility.
With respect to the relevance and impact of the project, a highly significant indicator is the interest it has generated at other universities and research or study centers, to the extent that the initial group of researchers and partner institutions has expanded considerably.
5. Communicative relevance of the research project
The videos of the lectures delivered during the refresher course have been edited and will be posted in the dedicated section of the website of the Interdisciplinary Forum on Anthropology (IFA) (https://www.ifanthropology.org/video).
The videos of the presentations from the conference on altruism have just been edited and are about to be posted in the same section of the above-mentioned website.
The conference held last March received a fair amount of coverage in the media: it was reported on by AgenSIR, Avvenire, Vatican News, Omnes, Avvenire di Calabria, and the HRF newsletter, as shown in the press review: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/12Ft0p-u_To6pkAOzUBXv8VCpXwItEJ1O
and at the following link:
In order to make the activities of the Interdisciplinary Forum on Anthropology, to which the research project is linked, better known, the first three volumes of the IFA – Essays series—previously published only in electronic format—were released in print last March, thus ensuring greater visibility. In addition to being offered for sale, they were distributed through the activities promoted. These volumes are:
F. Russo (ed.), La libertà in discussione. Tra cambiamenti culturali e progresso scientifico, Edusc, Rome 2025², ISBN: 979-12-5482-356-9
F. Russo (ed.), Passioni tristi, decisioni morali e speranza educativa, Edusc, Rome 2025², ISBN: 979-12-5482-357-6
F. Russo, V. Torre de Silva (eds.), Abitare il mondo, abitare i mondi, Edusc, Rome 2025², ISBN: 979-12-5482-358-3
As already mentioned, the volume Nel dedalo del desiderio. Percorsi multidisciplinari, edited by Nicola Di Stefano and Víctor Torre de Silva (Edusc, Rome 2025), has also been published in the same series. Furthermore, the papers presented at the conference on altruism have been published in a section of the journal “Forum. Supplement to Acta Philosophica,” edited by Ilaria Malagrinò, Miriam Savarese, and Víctor Torre de Silva
(https://forum-phil.pusc.it/issue/view/256). Finally, the proceedings of the conference on altruism, containing the keynote contributions, are currently in preparation, edited by Maria Teresa Russo and Luca Valera, to be published by Palgrave Macmillan.
Contacts
Prof. Francesco Russo, Pontificia Università della Santa Croce: frusso@pusc.it
Prof. Luca Valera, Universidad de Valladolid/ Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile: luca.valera@uva.es
[1] Cf. Francis, Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii gaudium, no. 55; Benedict XVI, Encyclical Letter Caritas in veritate, no. 75.
[2] Francis, Encyclical Letter Laudato si’, no. 114.
[3] Francis, Apostolic Constitution Gaudium Veritatis, no. 6.
[4] Cf. Francis, Message for the Celebration of the 54th World Day of Peace, “The Culture of Care as a Path to Peace,” 8 December 2020, no. 2.