The welcome of Felice Barela to the President of the Republic

8th November 2019

Mister President
academic authorities,
Civil, military, ecclesiastical authorities,
Dear students,
Ladies and gentlemen

I am particularly pleased to welcome the President of the Republic, who today honors us with his presence, which is a great encouragement and stimulus for all of us.

A warm welcome to you all on this opening day of a new academic year ofUniversità Campus Bio-Medico di Roma.

Our University has recently completed the halfway point of its first 25 years and has begun a new navigation stretch, in which it wishes to be able to offer society - to the girls and boys who are trained in its various study courses, to the many thousands of people who come to your Polyclinic, to the companies with which our researchers collaborate - an even broader and more significant contribution, thanks to the maturity achieved in recent years.

It fits into the centuries-old tradition of the university institution, with humility - also in consideration of its young age - but at the same time with the noble ambition of collecting its legacy, which includes the love of knowledge, the spirit of collaboration which knows no barriers or frontiers, service to man and the concern to contribute to the common good: values ​​which derive directly from the best European tradition and its Christian roots.

In these 25 years, the seed sown by Blessed Alvaro del Portillo, who made the wishes of St. Josemaría, the founder of Opus Dei, his own, has taken root and begun to bear fruit, which we hope will continue to grow in abundance. for the benefit of many people, even beyond national borders.

Just theinternationalization of our University is one of the objectives indicated in the strategic guidelines indicated by the Board of Governors, which have guided our action: the Rector will be able to better illustrate the way in which this objective is being translated into practice.

Other objectives that are being implemented in recent years concern The intensification of relations with the world of work, thanks to the action of the University-Enterprise Committee; The enrichment of the training offer (here too the Rector will tell us about the new Courses that have been activated); The development of research activities, with particular reference to clinical research and areas with a high social impact. I like to underline, in this regard, because I know that it is a topic that is very close to the President's heart, the lines of research concerning occupational safety and the quality of life of workers who have suffered accidents, also in collaboration with INAIL.

Our University is in a phase of development: more spaces, more students, more teachers... This growth also concerns our University Hospital, which just a few weeks ago completed the profound renovation works of the Oncological Radiotherapy center in via Longoni in the eastern suburbs of Rome, ad is about to take a very important step with the launch of the Department of Emergency - Urgency, according to the program studied and agreed with the Lazio Region, which will have important repercussions on the welfare, academic and social level for the our City, our Region, and beyond.

We are also in the process of activating a hospice, to offer palliative care to a good number of terminally ill people. To name just a few of the programs we are working on.

In addition to the short-term objectives, a long-term growth plan has also been set up. An international architecture competition, which ended in recent months, has made it possible to reflect on possible lines of development and on structural and urban planning solutions for the future Campus, so that each building that will be built responds to a unitary logic and keeps in mind the landscape, connections, energy and environmental sustainability.

At the same time, I would like to underline that, as we have repeatedly said, it is not "quantitative" growth that we intend to aim for (although, of course, there are some "minimum dimensions", a necessary "critical mass"), but above all increasingly increase the passion for quality in our work: training, scientific, welfare, and also good governance of the institution. Above all, quality of relationships, so that they are always characterized by that desire for "service", expressed in our "Charter of Purposes", which becomes acceptance, collaboration, respect, solidarity. It is the "genetic heritage": of attention, of care (I would say loving) for each person and for the environment. Aspects that I believe are recognized as one of the characteristics of our Institution: it is the responsibility of all of us to ensure that they not only are not lost over time, but rather that they are increasingly cultivated, improved, held in the utmost consideration, in order to remain faithful to the values ​​that gave birth to theUCBM and which have allowed its growth in these first 25 years.