On 18 October, the National Opening Ceremony for the 2024-2025 academic year took place in the Cardinal Medeiros Auditorium at the headquarters of the Portuguese Catholic University (UCP) in Lisbon.
This session began with the Academic Parade, which was attended by His Eminence the Most Reverend, the Chancellor of the UCP, D. Rui Valério; the Rector of the UCP, Isabel Capeloa Gil, and the various Pro-Rectors, Directors and Teachers of the different UCP Campuses. Representing Católica Braga were the Pro-Rector, João Duque, the Director of the Faculty of Philosophy and Social Sciences, Fr Bruno Nobre, the Vice-Director of the Faculty of Theology, Fr Luís Rodrigues and the lecturers Berta Maia, Catarina Vieira da Silva, Filomena Ponte, Ricardo Peixoto, Simone Petrella and Paulo Dias.
As usual, the Rector of UCP, Isabel Capeloa Gil, opened the ceremony and gave the message that ‘university is a space for exploration, where you dare to try and can and should fail’.
Afterwards, Miguel Freitas, an alumnus of the School of Biotechnology, shared with the university's recent graduates and students his experience as a UCP student and how the institution opened doors for him in the professional world.
This was followed by the Blessing of the Diplomas by chaplain Fr Miguel Vasconcelos and the presentation of the diplomas to the representatives of all the UCP courses that graduated in the 2023-2024 academic year.
Continuing the programme, the UCP/ Caixa Geral de Depósitos Merit Awards were presented by Luís Madeira, Deputy Central Director of Caixa Geral de Depósitos' Southern Commercial Directorate, as well as the Democracy and Development Awards (CLSBE) by Aníbal Cavaco Silva. The Rector of UCP also presented the 25 and 40 year career medals to the teachers who are celebrating this date with the institution.
At the end of the session, His Eminence the Most Reverend Chancellor, D. Rui Valério, reflected on ‘the vocational legacy of the Portuguese Catholic University, inspired by its highest values and standards of Christian humanism’.
The UCP choir enlivened the ceremony with various musical interventions.
