On March 25, the Solemnity of the Annunciation, the Pius Institute and the European institutions the Jérôme Lejeune Foundation (JLF) and Francisco de Vitoria University (UFV) formalized an institutional and educational partnership agreement.
This collaboration is rooted in a shared mission and common values, especially the promotion of human life and the family through education.
As a result of this agreement, effective immediately, Pius Institute students enrolled in postgraduate studies or medium- and long-term academic programs may receive a special discount when registering for the Official University Master’s Degree in Bioethics, offered jointly by Francisco de Vitoria University and the Jérôme Lejeune Foundation, Spain. This is an online university master’s program officially recognized within the European higher education system.
In addition to this concrete benefit for students, the agreement also opens the possibility of future joint initiatives between the institutions, including teaching, educational, and research activities.
It is an honor for the Pius Institute to collaborate with institutions of internationally recognized prestige, especially because of the strength of their values and their faithful Christian commitment.
Francisco de Vitoria University, located in Madrid, Spain, describes itself as a Christian university which seeks inspiration in the principles of the Gospel, the authentic source of human renewal, and as an institution born from the experience of the international Regnum Christi movement, which has created an open space in which all ecclesial sensibilities can work in communion for the building up of university life.
UFV is part of the Regnum Christi International Universities (RIU) network, to which the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum in Rome, Italy, also belongs. That institution has maintained a partnership agreement with the Pius Institute since 2024.
UFV currently serves more than 20,000 students in Spain, offering more than 30 undergraduate degree programs, over 60 postgraduate programs (master’s degrees), and 3 doctoral programs.
The Jérôme Lejeune Foundation, for its part, is a global reference in bioethics education and research. The institution began its work in France in 1995 following the death of Professor Jérôme Lejeune, regarded as the father of modern genetics for discovering in 1958 the genetic cause of Trisomy 21 (Down syndrome).
Its mission is grounded in a firm commitment to medical care, scientific research, and the defense of persons with genetically caused intellectual disabilities.
In 2015, the Jérôme Lejeune International Group established a permanent delegation in Spain, which in February 2023 opened the first Jérôme Lejeune Medical Institute in that country. In 2025, the permanent delegation became the Jérôme Lejeune Foundation Spain, recognizing the extraordinary growth of the mission there and seeking to consolidate past achievements while opening new paths of action, research, and accompaniment.
Among the academic initiatives promoted by the Foundation is the Jérôme Lejeune International Chair of Bioethics (CIBJL). The Chair was founded in 2009 under the leadership of Dr. Mónica López Barahona, who served as President. In 2025, Professor Elena Postigo Solana assumed the presidency, succeeding Dr. Mónica.
The CIBJL continues the mission to which Professor Jérôme Lejeune dedicated his life: the protection of the human person through science and reason. Its work combines medical expertise and ethical reflection in order to address the contemporary challenges of bioethics.
Its activity is sustained by three pillars: formation, research, and public outreach in bioethics, based on a personalist vision with ontological foundations, centered on the dignity of every human life, recognizing the human person as a personal being, and pursuing truth and the common good through scientific rigor and ethical reflection.
The institution has also made major contributions in research related to Down syndrome and sustains one of the most active international bioethics chairs in the world, organizing the International Congress of Bioethics, International Bioethics Encounters, the Official University Master’s Degree in Bioethics, and other academic programs in multiple languages.
The newly established agreement also offers access to discounts on the full range of bioethics formation programs offered by the Jérôme Lejeune International Chair of Bioethics.
Partnerships During a Time of Global Expansion for the Pius Institute
In 2025, the Pius Institute entered a new phase of international expansion, with numerous courses and meetings in Spanish and English involving pastoral leaders and priests from various countries.
This work is especially focused on marriage, family, and life issues, particularly through the promotion of the Marriage Prep Methodology by means of the book Matrimony: Preparation Sessions, responding to the Church’s call for an authentic marriage catechumenate in which themes of marriage and bioethics are seriously addressed.
These themes strongly converge with the mission of the Pius Institute in its two principal areas of work: Marriage and Family, and Bioethics.
This marriage catechumenate work involves themes related to marriage, family, and bioethics, and is now present in more than 20 countries.
The marriage preparation guide, available in Portuguese, Spanish, English, and Italian, has become one of the principal references of the Pius Institute’s apostolate, alongside its other books and bioethics programs.
In Brazil, the Pius Institute also offers three fully online postgraduate programs currently open for enrollment:
- Postgraduate Program in Bioethics and Family
- Postgraduate Program in Applied Bioethics
- Postgraduate Program in Bioethics and Biolaw
Among its medium- and short-term programs, the Institute also offers formation in the marriage catechumenate with various specialized themes for parish and diocesan groups, delivered online in English, Spanish, and Portuguese, with the participation of hundreds of Spanish-speaking participants every three months.
Those interested in the Pius Institute’s postgraduate programs may visit instituto.pius.com.br, while those seeking formation in Spanish or English may visit the international website of Pius: piusinstitute.org.
