04 agosto 2025
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Elena Beccalli, Rector of Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, has been elected Vice-President of the International Federation of Catholic Universities (IFCU) and member of the Board of Administration of the institution that brings together more than 240 universities and higher education institutions across over 60 countries on five continents.
For the 2025–2028 term, the Federation will be led by Father Francisco Ramírez Yáñez, Rector of the Universidad del Valle de Atemajac, who succeeds Isabel Capeloa Gil, Rector of the Universidade Católica Portuguesa. The election took place during IFCU’s 28th General Assembly, hosted from July 28 to August 1 at the Universidad del Valle de Atemajac (Univa) in Guadalajara, Mexico. The event also marked the conclusion of the centennial celebrations of the Federation, founded in 1924 through the initiative of Father Agostino Gemelli, founder of Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, and the Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen in the Netherlands.
Professor Beccalli’s prestigious appointment, which comes only a few months after her election as President of FUCE (the European branch of IFCU), acknowledges the leading role played by Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in the global landscape of higher education and its enduring cultural and scientific commitment to the service of integral human development.
Beccalli: «A renewed commitment to global education for the common good»
«It is a great honor to take on the role of Vice-President of IFCU at a time when Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore is approaching the international stage with a renewed strategic vision. This appointment reaffirms our commitment to the world, and for the world», said Rector Elena Beccalli.
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«The Federation is a strong voice in the higher education arena, promoting interdisciplinary dialogue and fostering networks of university initiatives around the globe. It maintains a constant focus on global challenges, the construction of the common good, and the promotion of human dignity», continued Rector Beccalli. «In the coming three years, our goal will be to further strengthen the commitment of Catholic universities to maintaining a vibrant presence, reaffirming the central role of education, academic training, and culture long-standing pillars for promoting peace and supporting integral development. This will require forging new and stronger ties with the communities in which Catholic universities operate, engaging all available resources to generate knowledge in service of civil society and the Church».
IFCU serves as the voice of Catholic universities within key international institutions. The Federation holds consultative status with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Paris and with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in New York. It also enjoys participatory status at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg. Moreover, IFCU is represented in the OECD Higher Education Stakeholder Forum and in the OECD Academic and Think Tank Network. The Federation collaborates closely with the Secretariat of State of the Holy See, the Dicastery for Culture and Education, the Holy See’s Agency for the Evaluation and Promotion of Quality in Ecclesiastical Universities and Faculties (AVEPRO), and various other dicasteries, including the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.
«In today’s global context, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore confirms its role as a leading actor in promoting a university model that combines scientific rigor, identity-based principles, and social responsibility», added Rector Beccalli. «Our active participation in international bodies such as IFCU and FUCE, together with strategic initiatives like the Africa Plan, reflects an inclusive and solidarity-driven vision of higher education one aimed at building bridges between cultures, fostering the integral formation of the human person, and promoting the common good. Through an expanding network of academic and institutional collaborations, the University contributes to shaping a global university rooted in Christian values and responsive to the challenges of our time».
IFCU’s New Governance
In addition to President Father Francisco Ramírez Yáñez and Vice-President Elena Beccalli, the General Assembly also elected Stephen Morgan of the University of Saint Joseph in Macao (China) and Katia Passerini of Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington (USA) as Vice-Presidents. This leadership structure reflects IFCU’s intercultural and global perspective, committed to promoting academic cooperation among Catholic universities with a focus on justice, peace, and the common good.
The IFCU General Assembly is held every three years. The next edition will take place in 2028 at the Universidade Católica Portuguesa in Lisbon. This year’s assembly, opened with a video message from Pope Leo XIV encouraging Catholic universities to become “itineraries of the mind toward God,” spanned five days of debates, meetings, workshops, and conferences. It provided over two hundred participants with the opportunity to engage in dialogue and reflection on identity, mission, and future directions, centered around the theme: “Catholic Universities, Choreographers of Knowledge”.
Rector Beccalli contributed to the workshop “Catholic Universities and the Business World: Inspiring Examples of Collaboration”, where she joined other prominent representatives of Catholic universities to discuss their relationships with the business sector. She presented success stories and strategic partnerships established by Università Cattolica, including the work of the E4Impact Foundation established in 2015 as a spin-off of Altis, the University’s Graduate School of Sustainable Management, and the Africa Plan of Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore.
The History of IFCU: A Global Network for the Promotion of Education, Peace, and Human Development
The International Federation of Catholic Universities, founded in 1924, began to take shape meaningfully only after World War II. It was officially recognized by a decree of the Holy See in 1948 and by Pope Pius XII in 1949. In 1965, it adopted its current name, consolidating its global mission: to promote university education and scientific research inspired by Catholic values, and to contribute actively to international dialogue on critical issues by offering knowledge, skills, and expertise to policy- and decision-makers for initiatives oriented toward the common good.
