Sharon Lavigne, the internationally known climate activist from Louisiana, has been awarded honorary Italian citizenship, according to an announcement this week.
The 75-year-old retired educator received the honor during her ongoing trip to the country, which began at the start of the month.
“This recognition celebrates her tireless fight for clean air, safe water, and dignity in Louisiana’s Cancer Alley, while also highlighting the connections between local struggles and global movements for climate justice,” reads a statement from RISE St. James, the nonprofit Lavigne founded in 2018.
— Sharon Lavigne (@SharonLavigne5) September 7, 2025
Lavigne received the new honor from the government of Trevignano Romano, a town within the district of Rome, during an annual eco-festival, Inseparable Relations: Building Together Earth International. The conference was held over the weekend from Sept. 5-7.
RISE St. James—which advocates against oil refineries and petrochemical plants in “Cancer Alley,” an 85-mile, predominantly Black region along the Mississippi River in Southeast Louisiana—helped organize this year’s Inseparable Relations event. Lavigne founded RISE due to the health effects of toxic emissions from the factories, as well as their displacement of historic cultural sites in the region. The nonprofit has since joined several lawsuits seeking to block new plants, which are routinely approved and supported by local and state governments in Louisiana.
“We as a people can stand together and we can fight this,” Lavigne said last week during an event with Italian activists currently fighting the construction of a new waste incinerator in a working-class area south of Rome. (Mayor Roberto Gualtieri, who is spearheading the new facility, reportedly skipped a meeting with Lavigne.)
“We should not let our politicians dictate to us what we can accept and what we cannot accept,” said Lavigne. “We can win this fight.”
For her work in Louisiana, Lavigne has been honored with the 2024 Goldman Environmental Prize, the 2021 Laetare Medal from the University of Notre Dame, and was named to the Time 100 last year.
Lavigne’s Italy visit has included meetings with top officials at the Vatican, including Tuesday morning with the Dicastery for Integral Human Development in view of the 2025 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) in November.
“It was Goldman Laureate Sharon Lavigne’s time to recount the resilience of RISE St. James’ communities who, despite difficult social and economic conditions, continue to defend their health and Mother Earth rights,” wrote Scuola Gea, the principal organizer of this month’s Inseparable Relations festival.
A devout Catholic herself, Lavigne has held meetings with Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, the Archbishop of Bologna, as well as grassroots climate organizations, and is serving as a visiting professor while in Italy.
According to RISE St. James, Lavigne is also expected to meet with Pope Leo XIV, who will welcome the Jubilee of Justice Workers on Saturday, Sept. 20.
Nate Tinner-Williams is co-founder and editor of Black Catholic Messenger.
