His Holiness Pope Francis has received María Dolores García Mascarell, president of UCAM, in a private audience at the Vatican, where they have discussed the current situation and projects on which the Universidad Católica is working in close collaboration with the Holy See,

as well as new ones that will be initiated in the near future.  

The meeting took place after the audience that the Holy Father held with the members of the Pontifical Academy for Life, in which María Dolores García participated. Pope Francis has once again shown his full support for the work being carried out by the Universidad Católica de Murcia, especially in the field of evangelisation, and has had a very special remembrance of José Luis Mendoza. 

His Holiness, Pope Francis, maintained a close relationship with the founder of UCAM, whom he phoned for the last time just hours before his death to tell him that he was praying for him and to give him his blessing. During the days that followed, Pope Francis contacted his wife, María Dolores García, on several occasions to take an interest in her family, to express his affection for them and to express his continued prayers for them.

In addition to this meeting, the president of the UCAM and her daughter María had a fruitful meeting with Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, recently appointed Prefect of the Dicastery for Culture and Education. During the meeting they told him about the work that José Luis Mendoza carried out as head of the Universidad Católica and the evangelising mission of the institution these last years. They also commented on the different initiatives being carried out through the John Paul II Pontifical Theological Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family, whose headquarters in Madrid are administered and managed by UCAM.