Dean Richard Fox and Professor Michael Genovese Participate in Summit on Belonging and Social Relations in the Age of Fragility

In Magnifica Humanitas, his first encyclical letter, Pope Leo XIV reflects on what it means to safeguard the human experience in the age of artificial intelligence, urging readers to prioritize authentic human connection: "Let us cultivate relationships! In an era that favors speed and fragmentation, the human person still yearns to receive care and recognition from attentive minds, kind words, and hands capable of tenderness." The Pope's call to cultivate belonging and meaningful relationships resonated throughout the recent assembly, Belonging and Social Relations in the Age of Fragility, co-hosted by the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences and the Office of California First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom. Held in Vatican City, the gathering examined human connection, social relationships, and mental well-being through multidisciplinary perspectives, addressing what many view as a contemporary crisis of belonging.

Among the 75 participants were Richard Fox, dean of the LMU Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts and professor of political science, and Michael Genovese, professor of political science, president of the Global Policy Institute, and Loyola Chair of Leadership Studies. In his presentation, "Political Polarization: The Antithesis of Belonging," Fox discussed how deepening political polarization contributes to social division by causing friends, family members, and neighbors with differing political views to be perceived as opponents. Genovese explored a related question in his talk, "If We Are So Rich, Why Do We Feel So Poor?" Reflecting on the paradox of material abundance amid widespread loneliness and dissatisfaction, he called upon people of goodwill to do what Abraham Lincoln enjoined us to do: "follow the better angels of our nature." He concluded with a hopeful reminder from Anne Frank: "How wonderful it is that nobody needs to wait a single moment before starting to improve the world."

Two LMU alumni also contributed to the assembly. Nisha Devi Rodrigo '02, director of CA For All Communities & Wellness in the Office of the First Partner, State of California, and a member of the BCLA Dean's Advisory Board, presented "Breath as Connection: Ancient Movement Practices Embodying Belonging." Renata Simril '93, president and CEO of the LA84 Foundation, discussed "Sport, Play, and the Culture of Encounter: Evidence for Belonging as Formation."

"If I had to sum up the message of the conference, it is the same message my mother told me every day as I left the house, 'be nice,'" said Genovese. "Sounds simple, but by today's standards, is pretty revolutionary."