The Vatican launches the Catholic Universities’ Art Triennial

The Catholic Universities Art Triennial is an international initiative promoted by the Holy See’s Dicastery for Culture and Education, bringing together Catholic universities, artists, curators and cultural institutions from around the world. Conceived as a collaborative project dedicated to artistic creation, scientific research and dialogue, the Triennial “explores the role of art in addressing the most pressing issues of our time through exhibitions, commissions, publications and public programmes”, explains the Vatican dicastery. It will take place in 2026–2027, concluding in Venice.

Its inaugural edition, entitled “Exercises in Empathy” (Exercises in Empathy), will take place in Rio de Janeiro, Santiago, Bogotá, Boston, Milan, Lisbon and Luanda, bringing together an international network of universities and various stakeholders to reflect on the role of higher education, human relationships and the concept of empathy. Pope Leo XIV states in the Encyclical “Magnifica Humanitas” that so-called artificial intelligences “may simulate empathy or understanding, but they do not understand what they produce, because they do not inhabit the affective, relational and spiritual realm in which human beings become wise”.
The Catholic Universities’ Art Triennial “aims to further this debate in the public sphere concerning the safeguarding of humanity”, concludes the department’s statement.