Importance of human legacy marks opening ceremony of the school year 22-23

"Be the protagonists of your future", was the advice given to students by the President of Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Isabel Capeloa Gil, during the Convocation and National Graduation Ceremony, held on October 13th, in the Cardeal Medeiros auditorium, in Lisbon.

UCP's President, highlighting the University's anniversary, stated, "55 years ago, on October 13, 1967, a long-prepared, long-desired and finally trodden path towards the creation of a Catholic University in Portugal began."

Throughout these 55 years, the Catholic University has graduated thousands of students who "have stood out for their contribution to the growth of Portuguese society", Isabel Capeloa Gil noted. Recalling the results obtained by UCP in the most recent Times Higher Education ranking, the President mentioned that "for the 4th consecutive year, Católica is internationally recognised as the best university in Portugal."

During the ceremony, a blessing of the students and diploma awarding to the 2021/2022 graduates also took place, where one graduate from each campus of Universidade Católica Portuguesa gave an account of how proud they were to have been a student at the University.

Invited to return to his university to speak to the students, António Brochado Correia, Territory Senior Partner at PwC, stressed that technical competence in companies should be accompanied by the human aspect, stating: "what distinguishes us is to be good citizens. The human component is the quality that is expected from us, to care about our neighbour".

Aníbal Cavaco Silva, who delivered the Democracy and Development Award to the best undergraduate and master students of CLSBE, left the following advice to the recent graduates: "Do not isolate yourself, participate in debate groups, continue your training and acquisition of new knowledge throughout your life". During the ceremony, the UCP/Caixa Geral de Depósitos awards were also presented.

At the end of the event, the Cardinal-Patriarch of Lisbon and Magno-Chancellor of Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Manuel Clemente, challenged the new graduates to foster the relationships that were born in the University, taking advantage of the legacy of coexistence and the quality of the people who make up the academic community. "If we do not develop our personality in terms of relationships with others, we do not develop, we become more and more ourselves and that is not the future, nor is it the past, it is nothing," he concluded.