Between March and May, the Alfonsiana Academy offers a training program in economics, inspired by the Social Doctrine of the Church and best practices in Civil Economy, for the quality of life in communities and territories.
Consciousness, synodality, entrepreneurship. These are the “key concepts” of a journey that, in today’s complex world, focuses specifically on the economic and labor sectors, guided by the vision of integral human development. This is the course the Alphonsian Academy is launching for 2026, “inspired—as stated in a press release from the pontifical university—by the Social Doctrine of the Church and best practices in Civil Economy, for the quality of life in communities and territories.”
>> to consult the details of the course, visit the Alfonsiana website
Peace and quality of life
Intended for university students, as well as workers, entrepreneurs, and freelancers from any sector—associations, businesses, and churches—the course has opened registration ahead of the start of the teaching modules scheduled for March 14th, with the next two classes scheduled for April 18th and May 16th. The Alphonsian Academy’s stated goal is to contribute to “developing an anthropologically and scientifically grounded economic vision” and “fostering, starting with families, communities, and businesses, the dissemination of lifestyles, decision-making criteria, and development models inspired by walking together in an entrepreneurial manner, to bring peace and quality of life everywhere.” This is an innovative approach, therefore, and also a commitment to show a different side of the economy than the purely profit-driven one, which leaves behind the vulnerable segments of civil society.
Along these lines, the Pontifical Academy’s recent publication of an economics booklet titled “For a Synodal and Entrepreneurial Moral Conscience” in the university journal Studia Moralia should be understood. This first booklet contains the proceedings of the inaugural event, held on June 6, 2025, which presented the research and training program with presentations by Giorgio Del Signore, bursar of the Alphonsian Academy, Adriano Bordignon, national president of the Forum of Family Associations, and Sergio Formai, coordinator of the Sectors of the Italian Association for Culture and Quality. The proceedings opened with a keynote address by Cardinal Mario Grech, Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops.
A challenge that concerns everyone
In his analysis, Del Signore highlighted, among other things, the unsustainability of the current economic paradigm—the root of many evils, “alienating work, unequal distribution of wealth, pollution and climate change, new forms of slavery,” but also a source of “instability” in political and geopolitical balances—and the need to rethink it. He also stated that, faced with the risk of collapse, changing the economic paradigm represents “the greatest challenge of our time, which calls upon everyone’s conscience.”
(vaticannews.va, alfonsiana.org)
