Xavier University-Ateneo de Cagayan believe that education, faith, and action are inseparable in responding to the challenges of our time.

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Jesuit Universal Apostolic Preferences (UAPs), and Pope Francis’ encyclical letter, Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home offer converging paths toward a world that is just, peaceful, and sustainable. These three global and spiritual frameworks intersect and inspire the University’s mission of forming persons for others — committed to social justice, ecological integrity, and the greater glory of God.

The 17 SDGs, adopted by the United Nations in 2015, provide a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet. They address global challenges such as poverty, inequality, climate change, and education — inviting nations, institutions, and individuals to take part in creating a sustainable future. On the other hand, the UAPs direct Jesuit institutions like Xavier Ateneo toward a faith that does justice and engages with the realities of the world. Lastly, Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical calls all people to an ecological conversion — to rediscover our relationship with God, others, and creation. Further, Laudato Si’ urges integral ecology, where environmental, social, cultural, and spiritual dimensions are deeply intertwined. It inspires the Church and the world to care for creation and the poor, promoting a new way of living marked by simplicity, gratitude, and solidarity.

Each framework converges on a single truth: true progress unites care for people, care for creation, and care for the spirit. They remind us that sustainability is not only about environmental balance, but also about moral renewal and collective responsibility for the common good.

Guided by these three frameworks, Xavier Ateneo integrates faith, sustainability, and social engagement across its operations and programs. Given that the journey toward sustainability and justice is also a journey of faith, Xavier Ateneo embraces the Jesuit mission of forming leaders who serve with conscience, competence, and compassion.

Early Commitment to Sustainability

Xavier Ateneo’s commitment to sustainability began as early as the 2010s, when it became the home of the Regional Centre of Expertise-Northern Mindanao on Education for Sustainable Development (RCE). The RCE is a global network of formal, non-formal, and informal education organizations mobilized to deliver education for sustainable development (ESD) in their respective regions. Each RCE works to localize the global objectives of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD, 2005–2014) by translating them into concrete initiatives and programs that benefit local communities. By joining this network, Xavier Ateneo affirmed its commitment to advancing the UN’s vision for sustainability through education and community partnership.

Establishing the Green Campus Agenda

Around the same period, Xavier Ateneo established the Green Campus Agenda (GCA) to strengthen the University’s environmental policies and initiatives. The GCA is responsible for conceptualizing, organizing, coordinating, monitoring, and updating the University’s programs related to environmental sustainability. Through the GCA, Xavier Ateneo institutionalized sustainability as a guiding principle in campus operations, ensuring that ecological consciousness is embedded in decision-making and everyday practices.

Responding to the Call of Laudato Si’

Being long recognized as a leader and catalyst in environmental science and technology, Xavier Ateneo commits to transforming persons and systems for ecological action. As Xavier Ateneo approaches its 100th year, this commitment is expressed in its resolute response to Pope Francis's call to care for our common home. Its commitment to social justice and the person's integral development has led the university to formally embark on a seven-year journey to become a Laudato Si' University. Xavier Ateneo is one of the very few and first universities in the Philippines that has promulgated and submitted to the Vatican its Laudato Si` University Plan in 2022.

In addition, the university community recognizes the imperative to further enhance the Green Campus Agenda beginning in year 2023 to employ new and innovative green technology across campuses and incorporate these in the building plans of those that are being constructed, and establish linkages with other University offices and centers to advance its agenda. Furthermore, Xavier Ateneo formed the Laudato Si’ University Committee, a team tasked to lead the university’s journey toward becoming a Laudato Si’ University.

The mission has been strengthened by the recent pronouncements of Pope Leo XIV, who has emphasized that the care for our common home is an "absolute moral imperative" for the contemporary Church. In his recent apostolic exhortation, Pope Leo XIV reaffirmed the urgency of the Laudato Si' goals, praising academic institutions that move beyond theory into concrete, systemic change. His support provides a renewed spiritual mandate for the university to deepen its ecological conversion and accelerate its efforts in responding to the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor.

For Xavier Ateneo, this initiative is not merely an institutional project, but a commitment to live more sustainably, and in harmony with our universal identity as stewards of God’s creation and people.

Through these goals, the University reaffirms its Jesuit mission to form persons for and with others—faithful stewards of creation and compassionate builders of a more just and sustainable world.

Continuing the Journey

Today, Xavier Ateneo continues to strengthen its initiatives on sustainability and integral ecology through its academic programs, campus operations, and community partnerships. Guided by the Jesuit Universal Apostolic Preferences, the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and the spirit of Laudato Si’, the University envisions a community that embodies ecological conversion—one that seeks harmony with creation and works toward lasting social transformation.

With faith as its foundation and action as its expression, Xavier Ateneo remains steadfast in its commitment to be a university that educates, inspires, and leads the way toward a future where all creation can thrive.