Pope Francis at Universidade Católica Portuguesa blesses first stone of new Campus Veritati

Pope Francis blessed, on 3 August, the first stone of the Campus Veritati of the Universidade Católica Portuguesa (UCP), at its headquarters in Lisbon, which will begin construction later in 2023 and will be located on the north side of the current campus.

The new campus project includes the new facilities of the Católica Lisbon School of Business & Economics (CLSBE), which will be renamed the José Manuel de Mello Building, as a result of a donation of €12 million from the José de Mello Group and the José de Mello family, decided in December 2020, in the context of the historical connection to academia and, in particular, to Católica.

The Veritati Campus will also comprise the Innovation Centre - E-Lab, a Multifunctional Conference Centre, an auditorium with capacity for 800 people and the new facilities of the Rector's Office.

According to the President of Católica, Isabel Capeloa Gil, the donation decided in 2020 "demonstrates the great alignment of the José de Mello Group and the José de Mello family with the Universidade Católica, in the common purpose of contributing to the creation of value and affirming differentiating projects for the country".

The blessing of the first stone of Campus Veritati by Pope Francis will take place tomorrow at 9 am at the Meeting with University Students at the Universidade Católica, where testimonies of refugee and migrant students supported by the Pope Francis Fund, created by Católica in 2017, to support students in emergency, will be shared.