Sacru looks to the future: Isabel Capeloa Gil elected President, Javeriana becomes a new member

Two important developments mark the future of the Strategic Alliance of Catholic Research Universities (SACRU) - the global network of Catholic universities, whose Secretariat is hosted by Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore.

On July 27, 2025, the SACRU Governing Board met at the Westin Hotel in Guadalajara (Mexico). The Board is composed of the Rectors and Presidents of the SACRU partner universities and was chaired by Professor Zlatko Skrbis, Vice-Chancellor and President of Australian Catholic University. Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore was represented by the Rector, Professor Elena Beccalli, and by Professor Pier Sandro Cocconcelli, SACRU Secretary General and Dean of the Faculty of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences.

During the meeting, Professor Isabel Capeloa Gil, Rector of Universidade Católica Portuguesa, was unanimously elected as the new President of the Alliance for the 2025–2028 term. Alongside her, the Board elected Professor Miki Sugimura, President of Sophia University, as Vice President, succeeding Professor Elena Beccalli.

Isabel Capeloa Gil is Full Professor of Culture Studies and current Rector of Universidade Católica Portuguesa (UCP). She graduated in Modern Languages and Literatures from the University of Lisbon and earned a Ph.D. in German Language and Culture from UCP. She has been a visiting professor at several international universities (including in Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Italy, Brazil, and the United States), is an Honorary Fellow at the School of Advanced Studies of the University of London, and served as Dean of the Faculty of Human Sciences at UCP. She is also the founder of the Lisbon Consortium and of the Research Centre for Communication and Culture.

The Board expressed sincere thanks to Professor Skrbis, the second President in the history of the Alliance, for his work over the past years and congratulated the new President on her appointment.

On the same occasion, the Governing Board officially approved the admission of Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (Colombia) as a new member of the network. This marks the first enlargement of the SACRU alliance since its establishment in 2020. With the inclusion of Javeriana, SACRU now counts nine member universities, three of which are based in South America: in addition to Javeriana, SACRU also includes Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) and Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (Chile).