From 28th-30th November, over 600 young economists, entrepreneurs, activists and scholars gathered in Castel Gandolfo for “Restarting the Economy,” the latest global meeting of The Economy of Francesco. Coming just days after COP30 in Belém, the gathering felt like a continuation of the same global momentum: a determination to rethink our economic and ecological future from the ground up.
Among the participants were eight students and young entrepreneurs from Ireland — from Dublin, Limerick, Belfast, Armagh and Dungannon — bringing experiences from social enterprises, community initiatives and youth-led sustainability projects. Some had already been part of the conversation at the Raising Hope Conference in October, where faith leaders and climate actors explored how moral courage and creativity could shape COP30. What began there returned to Castel Gandolfo in a new form: a move from climate commitments to the deeper economic transformations needed to sustain them.
Jubilee Roots, New Horizons
Inspired by the biblical Jubilee, the event focused on rest, liberation and restoration. Vatican News described it as a workshop of practical imagination: rethinking decent work, regenerative business models, community ownership and ecological balance. The newly released Fraternity Report 2025 offered ways to measure solidarity, trust and social cohesion — essential building blocks of any just transition.
Pope Leo XIV: Seeing “New Things” from the Peripheries
A highlight of the gathering was the message of Pope Leo XIV, who reminded participants that young people are closest to “the new things on which humanity gambles its future.” But he insisted that genuine novelty must be seen from the peripheries, from those who are excluded or harmed by the old economic order.
Real change, he said, emerges not from centres of power but often from “smallness” and from the “weak elements” that can transform systems from below. He urged the movement to “organise the hope” awakened by Pope Francis and to build economic models that restore dignity to people, communities and the Earth.
From Climate to Economy and Back Again
In the wake of COP30, the conversations in Castel Gandolfo carried renewed urgency. Economic transformation is essential to deliver what was discussed in Belém:
• moving beyond fossil fuels,
• strengthening communities at the frontline of climate impact,
• and shaping economies that respect planetary boundaries.
Irish participants contributed to discussions on social enterprise, sustainable food systems, community energy and youth-led innovation, each showing how ecological conversion and economic creativity can support one another.
A Quiet Determination
As the gathering closed, there was a shared sense of quiet determination. “Restarting the economy” does not mean repairing a broken machine but imagining an economy grounded in solidarity, ecological care and human dignity.
Or as Pope Leo XIV put it:
“An economy that restarts is not a machine that produces, but an activity that restores life.”
The challenge now is to carry this vision into our communities, including across Ireland, ensuring that the spirit of Raising Hope and the commitments of COP30 become part of a long-term movement for change.