Fernandez and Vega Brief Pope Leo XIV on CINCIA’s Work in Amazon
On September 30, our colleagues Luis Fernandez and Claudia Vega were part of a select delegation invited by the Vatican to brief Pope Leo XIV on their work addressing the environmental and human devastation of artisanal and small scale gold mining in the Peruvian Amazon.
The continued engagement with Pope Leo and Pope Francis before him is a testament to the importance and reach the work in Peru has, and how broad and effective Wake Forest, the Sabin Center, and the ethos of Pro Humanitate are.
Sabin Center Founding Director Miles Silman
Pope Leo will be visiting Peru in November 2026, and the reports shared by the delegation are expected to inform further Vatican advocacy for the communities and ecosystems of the region. Indeed, Pope Francis visited the Madre de Dios region of Peru, where CINCIA is anchored, in 2018. Pope Francis, too, had relied upon CINCIA’s scientific findings in preparation for that visit.
Read on to hear more about the audience with Pope Leo XIV and its implications for CINCIA’s ongoing impact in the region.
Photo Credit: © Vatican Media