CV NEWSFEED // The Vatican has announced the complete merger of three Pontifical Universities in Rome into a single entity.
According to a recent Vatican News article, the Society of Jesus has merged the three Jesuit-run Pontifical Universities, which Pope Francis entrusted to it, into a single juridical entity, following the Holy Father’s request.
The March 18 announcement states that the Pontifical Gregorian University will permanently incorporate the Pontifical Biblical Institute and the Pontifical Oriental Institute under a new set of General Statutes created by the Society at the direction of Francis in December 2019.
“The Holy Father ordered that the Pontifical Biblical Institute and the Pontifical Oriental Institute be joined to the Gregorian University while still retaining their own names and missions,” the Vatican report stated:
This was done in such a way that they are now part of “the same juridical person, as academic units of the University.”
The request aims to improve the ability of the two Pontifical Institutes to carry out their specific missions in the present context.
The change will come into effect completely on Pentecost Sunday, May 19, 2024, after which the Pontifical Gregorian University will be governed by a single Rector, assisted by a Council which includes three Presidents who will share the responsibility for overseeing the University as a whole.
Pope Francis also stated his wish that the Prefect of the Dicastery for the Oriental Church continue “supporting and promoting the mission of the Pontifical Oriental Institute,” by acting as Patron for the Institute.
Established in 1551 by St Ignatious of Loyala, the Gregorian has been known as the “Roman College” for decades. The Pontifical Biblical Institute, founded in 1909, is home to world-renowned advanced Scripture studies. The Pontifical Oriental Institute was established in 1917, and is dedicated to ecclesiastical sciences and Eastern Church canon law.
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