Rector’s Message Easter 2021

Dear students, faculty and staff,

As we celebrate renewal, I wish everyone of you and your families a very happy Easter.

Almost a year ago, we were rocked by fear and uncertainty. We experienced the first lockdown and were unable to join together with family and friends to celebrate the season. Since then, we have come to know more about this deadly pandemic and are hopeful about the future. We have adapted to an unprecedented reality and have learnt from each other, just as our sense of community has increased.

The pandemic has made us painfully aware that we will only thrive if we work together. Fragility is our common trait but together we are strong. Then again, it is true that the pandemic was also an occasion for technological and pedagogical renewal.

The second lockdown has been clearly different. It did not represent a brutal cut with the flow of life, but it was no less violent in the way it widened inequality and produced a wide ranging screen fatigue. We all long for presence, once again.

This was certainly a critical period for students, who initiated the second term under lockdown, to faculty who have gone out of their way to provide guidance and support to the community, to researchers and to all staff members. Once again private space and professional time became interchangeable.

On April 19, Católica will resume in-person classes and I look forward to welcoming you all back. At the same time we shall launch a general testing procedure for the academic community in collaboration with the Red Cross. Just as before, our main goal is to keep the members of our community and our campi safe while maintaining our excellence in teaching and research and guaranteeing the sustainability of the university.

On this year of discontent and promise, we have reinvented ourselves. Now as before, Católica shall continue on its forward looking path in the service of a better society.

Stay safe and may the blessings of Easter, lead to a better hope in a common future.

 

Isabel Capeloa Gil

The Rector

Related News

International The President
The Universidade Católica Portuguesa launches the Future Leaders programme in partnership with the António Pargana Foundation
The official opening ceremony took place on 14 March in Lisbon and was attended by the President of the Universidade Católica Portuguesa and the President of the António Pargana Foundation. Find out more here.

Mon, 16/03/2026

The President
The president of Católica takes part in a conference to mark International Women’s Day
Isabel Capeloa Gil was one of the guest speakers on the panel discussing the role of women in the economy, leadership and the impact of female talent on organisational transformation. Find out more here.

Fri, 13/03/2026

The President SACRU
SACRU participates in the Laudato Si’ Global Alliance meeting
During the meeting, Isabel Capeloa Gil presented the pioneering Doctoral Programme in Integral Ecology of the Universidade Católica Portuguesa, as well as the results and report of the working group on integral ecology developed within the scope of SACRU. Find out more here.

Wed, 11/03/2026