The Pontifical Gregorian University ( it, Pontificia Università Gregoriana; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana,) is a higher education ecclesiastical school (

pontifical university A pontifical university is an ecclesiastical university established or approved directly by the Holy See, composed of three main ecclesiastical faculties (Theology, Philosophy and canon law (Catholic Church), Canon Law) and at least one other facu ...

) located in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as a part of the Roman College, founded in 1551 by Ignatius of Loyola, and included all grades of schooling. Its chairs of philosophy and theology received Papal approval in 1556, making it the first institution founded by the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). In 1584, the Roman College was given a new home by Pope Gregory XIII, after whom it was renamed the Gregorian University. It had distinguished scholars in ecclesiastical fields as well as in natural science and mathematics. Only the theology and philosophy departments of the Gregorian survived the political turmoil in Italy after 1870. Today, the Gregorian has an international faculty and around 2,750 students from over 150 countries.

History

Founding

Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus, established a School of Grammar, Humanities, and Christian Doctrine (''Scuola di grammatica, d'umanità e di Dottrina cristiana'') in Rome on 18 February 1551. It was located in a building at the base of the Capitoline Hill, on what is today the Piazza d'Aracoeli. Francis Borgia, the viceroy of Catalonia and a Catholic patron, provided financial support for the new school. With a small library connected to it, the school was called the Roman College (''Collegio Romano''). In September 1551, due to its increased enrollment, the college moved to a larger facility behind the Santo Stefano del Cacco Church in Rome. After only two years of operation, the Roman College had 250 graduates.

Early growth

In January 1556, Pope Paul IV authorized the Roman College to confer academic degrees in theology and philosophy, elevating it to the rank of university. During the following 20 years, ever increasing enrollment forced the college to move to larger facilities twice. During this period, the college added chairs in

moral philosophy Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns ma ...

and Arabic to the existing chairs in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. When the college reached an enrollment of 1000 students, Pope Gregory XIII decided to build it a more expansive facility. He expropriated two city blocks in Rome near the Via del Corso and commissioned the architect Bartolomeo Ammannati to design a new building. The new college building was inaugurated in 1584 in what became known as the Piazza Collegio Romano, across from the

Palazzo Doria Pamphilj The Doria Pamphilj Gallery is a large art collection housed in the Palazzo Doria Pamphilj in Rome, Italy, between Via del Corso and Via della Gatta. The principal entrance is on the Via del Corso (until recently, the entrance to the gallery was fr ...

. In gratitude for Gregory XIII's sponsorship, the college administration lauded him as its "founder and father" and renamed the Roman College as the Gregorian University. The new space at Piazza Collegio Romano allowed the Gregorian University to add chairs of church history and

liturgy Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. ''Liturgy'' can also be used to refer specifically to public worship by Christians. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and partic ...

. The Gregorian soon became known for its work in mathematics, physics and astronomy. Christopher Clavius, then a professor at the Gregorian, developed the Gregorian calendar that is still used worldwide today. The Jesuit mathematician Athanasius Kircher also later taught at the Gregorian. Not long after its Piazza Collegio Romano site opened, the Gregorian had 2000 students. Due to the limited size of its chapel, the Gregorian started rebuilding it in 1626 as the Church of Sant'Ignazio. Completed in 1650, the church is considered one of the major

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

churches in the Rome area.

Modern era

In 1773, following the suppression of the Society of Jesus throughout Europe, the Jesuits were forced to cede control over the Gregorian University to the Diocese of Rome. However, Pope Leo XII returned the Gregorian to Jesuit control on 17 May 1824 after the reestablishment of the Society of Jesus. With the

Capture of Rome The Capture of Rome ( it, Presa di Roma) on 20 September 1870 was the final event of the unification of Italy (''Risorgimento''), marking both the final defeat of the Papal States under Pope Pius IX and the unification of the Italian Peninsula ...

in 1870, Rome and the Papal States were incorporated into the new Kingdom of Italy. The new government of Italy then confiscated the Gregorian property and building, converting it into the Ennio Quirino Visconti Liceo Ginnasio. The Gregorian was forced to move into a much smaller facility at the

Palazzo Gabrielli-Borromeo The Palazzo Gabrielli-Borromeo is a palazzo in Rome, Italy. It is located in Via del Seminario, between piazza di Sant'Ignazio and the Pantheon in the ancient Campus Martius and in the second sector of the present-day Colonna rione, not far fro ...

on Via del Seminario in Rome. Due to its lack of space, the Gregorian was forced to drop all of its faculties except for theology and philosophy. Enrollment dropped to under 250 students by 1875.

Pope Pius IX Pope Pius IX ( it, Pio IX, ''Pio Nono''; born Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878, the longest verified papal reign. He was notable for convoking the First Vatican ...

later granted the Gregorian the title "Pontifical University". In 1876, the Faculty of Canon Law was transferred from the University of Rome La Sapienza to the Gregorian, and the university gradually resumed the teaching of other disciplines. After World War I, Pope Benedict XV and his successor,

Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI ( it, Pio XI), born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti (; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939), was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 to his death in February 1939. He was the first sovereign of Vatican City fro ...

, worked to create a new campus for the Gregorian at the base of Quirinal Hill, adjacent to the Pontifical Biblical Institute (''Biblicum''). Pius XI laid the first stone for the new campus on 27 December 1924. Designed by architect Giulio Barluzzi in Neoclassical style, it was completed by 1930. After moving to the new campus, the Gregorian continued to expand to new faculties and disciplines as well as to add new buildings. The Pontifical Institute Regina Mundi, dedicated to the theological formation of women, opened in 1955 and closed in 2005.

Today

Today the Gregorian University has approximately 2,750 students from over 150 countries. About 70% of the students are foreign nationals, with 65% of them coming from non- European Union countries. Most students are priests, seminarians, and members of religious orders. After the Second Vatican Council, the first women to earn doctoral degrees at the university were Sandra Schneiders, IHM, and Mary Milligan, RSHM. Both graduates became authorities in

New Testament Theology Because scholars have tended to use the term in different ways, Biblical theology has been notoriously difficult to define. Description Although most speak of biblical theology as a particular method or emphasis within biblical studies, some sch ...

and Christian Spirituality. The Gregorian faculties are approximately 60% Italian and mainly Jesuit priests. In recent years, there has been an increase in laity in both the faculties and the student body; today, diocesan and religious priests represent about 45%, seminarians 25%, lay men and women 22%, and nuns 8% of the student body. Around 1970, the Gregorian discontinued Latin as the principal language of instruction by lecturers and examiners. Since the Gregorian is a

, the Holy See accredits its curriculum, and its degrees have full effect in canon law. However, its licentiates in philosophy and theology are conferred by some Jesuit universities worldwide, entitling recipients to teach in major seminaries.

Academics

Gregorian Consortium

The Gregorian University is one of three member institutes that make up the Gregorian Consortium; the other two institutions are the Pontifical Biblical Institute (founded in 1909) and the Pontifical Oriental Institute (founded in 1917). The Consortium was created under

, in 1928.

Academic units

The Pontifical Gregorian University has six faculties, three institutes and five centres, all of which offer academic degrees. *Faculties: ** Canon Law (''minors:'' Matrimonial Jurisprudence, Penal Jurisprudence) ** History and Cultural Heritage of the Church (''majors:'' Cultural Heritage of the Church, History of the Church) ** Missiology (''minors:'' ''Missio Ad Gentes'', New Evangelization, Theology of Religions) ** Philosophy (''minors:'' Practical Philosophy, Theoretical Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion) ** Social Sciences (''majors:'' Social Communication, Social Doctrine of the Church, Sociology, Leadership and Management) ** Theology (''majors:'' Biblical Theology, Dogmatic Theology, Fundamental Theology, Moral Theology, Patristic, Comparative Christian Theology, Spiritual Theology, Vocational Theology) Pontificia Università Gregoriana

*Institutes: ** Anthropology (former Centre for Child Protection) ** Psychology ** Spirituality *Centres: ** Centre "Alberto Hurtado" for Faith and Culture ** Centre "Cardinal Bea" for Judaic Studies ** Centre "Saint Peter Favre" for Formators to the Priesthood and Religious Life ** Gregorian Centre for Interreligious Studies ** Ignatian Spirituality Centre Through the Gregorian Consortium, students are also able to pursue courses in the two Pontifical Institutes. *Pontifical Biblical Institute: ** Faculty of Ancient Near Eastern Studies ** Faculty of Sacred Scriptures *Pontifical Oriental Institute: ** Faculty of Eastern Canon Law ** Faculty of Eastern Ecclesiastical Sciences (''majors:'' History, Liturgy, Patristics)

Libraries

The three libraries of the Gregorian Consortium contain nearly 1.2 million volumes, with large collections in the fields of theology, philosophy, culture and literature. The original Roman College library was founded in 1556. In 1872, the Gregorian library's 45,000 volumes, manuscripts, and archives were confiscated by the new Italian state; they were dispersed, with some of the collection going to the new Rome National Central Library. Since 1928, the Gregorian library has been located on the Gregorian campus at Quirinal Hill. The majority of the library's collection, 820,000 volumes, is housed in a six-floor tower adjacent to the Palazzo Centrale. An additional 60,000 volumes are housed in the six reading rooms, which together seat 400 students. The library's reserve contains many ancient and precious books as well as rare editions, including 80 books from the 16th century.

Archives of the Pontifical Gregorian University

The Archives of the Pontifical Gregorian University (APUG) contain Jesuit records from the founding of the Roman College in 1551 to the suppression of the Jesuits in 1773. APUG has over 5,000 manuscripts for teaching

rhetoric Rhetoric () is the art of persuasion, which along with grammar and logic (or dialectic), is one of the three ancient arts of discourse. Rhetoric aims to study the techniques writers or speakers utilize to inform, persuade, or motivate parti ...

, grammar, philosophy and theology along with research on Greek and Latin classics, astronomy, mathematics, physics, Latin, Greek, Hebrew and Arabic. Many of the APUG manuscripts were copied by auditores, others are autographs of masters such as Famiano Strada, Christopher Clavius, Francisco Suarez, Roberto Bellarmino, Mutio Vitelleschi, Roger Joseph Boscovich,

Juan Bautista Villalpando Juan Bautista Villalpando also ''Villalpandus'', or ''Villalpanda'' (1552 – 22 May 1608) was a Spanish priest of Sephardic ancestry, a member of the Jesuits, a scholar, mathematician, and architect. Life Villalpando was born in Córdoba, Spai ...

, Francisco de Toledo. In some cases, these lesson notes gave origin to important works, like the Bellarmino's Controversie, of which APUG owns a copy with a lot of handwritten notes by the author. Other important documents at APUG include Athanasius Kircher's correspondence, the Christopher Clavius's correspondence or the codex used by Francesco Sforza Pallavicino to write his ''Istoria del Concilio di Trento''. Many miscellaneous documents at APUG highlight the relations between the Roman College and many of the Jesuits in mission around the world. These documents provide insight on the Church Reforms, the grace or moral debates, the Jansenist polemic and Chinese rites. APUG also contains documentation about the teaching activity from the 19th century until today: it is the official respository for all the professors who have taught at the Gregorian since 1873. This also includes documents on the

First Vatican Council The First Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the First Vatican Council or Vatican I was convoked by Pope Pius IX on 29 June 1868, after a period of planning and preparation that began on 6 December 1864. This, the twentieth ecu ...

and the Second Vatican Council.

Gregorian and Biblical Press

The Gregorian and Biblical Press prints and publishes documents for both the Gregorian University and the Biblical Institute. Since 2010, it has offered magazine subscriptions and book purchases online in six languages.

Gregorian University publications

* Analecta Gregoriana * Documenta Missionalia * Miscellanea e storia pontificia * Tesi gregoriana * Canon Law * Phylosophy * Missiology * Spirituality * Ecclesiastical History * Teologia * nterreligious Investigations * Philosophia

Biblical Institute publications

* Analecta Biblica * Biblica et orientalia * Studia Pohl (Series Maior) * Subsidia biblica

Extraterritoriality

According to Article 16 of the Lateran Treaty, a 1929 agreement between the Government of Italy and the Holy See, the Gregorian University enjoys a certain level of extraterritoriality. According to the treaty, Italy can never subject the university to "charges or to expropriation for reasons of public utility, save by previous agreement with the Holy See." The Gregorian is also exempt from all Italian tax and is included among those Roman buildings for which the Holy See has the right to deal "as it may deem fit, without obtaining the authorization or consent of the Italian governmental, provincial, or communal authority."

Notable students and professors

Gregorian's alumni include 17 popes, such as

Pope Gregory XV Pope Gregory XV ( la, Gregorius XV; it, Gregorio XV; 9 January 15548 July 1623), born Alessandro Ludovisi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 February 1621 to his death in July 1623. Biography Early life Al ...

, Pope Urban VIII, Pope Innocent X, Pope Clement XI, Pope Leo XIII, Pope Pius XII, Pope Paul VI, and Pope John Paul I. Eight of the last eleven popes were alumni of the Gregorian. Other students include 72 saints and beatified persons including

Saint Robert Bellarmine Robert Bellarmine, SJ ( it, Roberto Francesco Romolo Bellarmino; 4 October 1542 – 17 September 1621) was an Italian Jesuit and a cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was canonized a saint in 1930 and named Doctor of the Church, one of only 37. ...

, Saint Aloysius Gonzaga and Saint Maximilian Kolbe. Former Gregorian professors include Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, a visiting professor in the Faculty of Theology from 1972 to 1973. Gregorian alumni and professors include: * Bartholomew I, Greek Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople and New Rome * Mar

Joseph Kallarangatt Joseph Kallarangatt (born 27 January 1956) is an Indian Catholic prelate and theologian, who is the 3rd Bishop of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy of Palai. He was ordained as a priest in 1982, later received a doctorate in theology (ThD) from ...

, Indian theologian and bishop of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy of Palai *

Simona Brambilla Simona Brambilla (born 27 March 1965) is an Italian Roman Catholic nun and missionary who led the women's branch of the Consolata Missionaries from 2011 to 2023 and became secretary of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societ ...

, Italian nun and member of Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life * Roger Boscovich, Croat Jesuit priest, physicist and mathematician *James Tunstead Burtchaell, American priest, university provost and professor * David Cairns, Scottish politician * Christopher Clavius, German Jesuit priest and inventor of the Gregorian calendar * Friedrich Dörr, German priest, professor and hymnwriter * Jules Mazarin, French cardinal and prime minister to the French Monarchy * Joseph Perumthottam, Indian Metropolitan of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Archeparchy of Changanacherry * Reginald Foster, American priest, Latinist and professor * Filippo Grandi, Italian Commissioner-General of UNRWA *

Peter Henrici Peter Henrici (born 31 March 1928) is a Swiss Jesuit priest, Blondelian philosopher and professor (1960–1993) at the Gregorian University. He was Auxiliary Bishop of Chur from 1993 to 2007. Biography Born on 31 March 1928 at Zurich, Henrici ...

, Swiss Jesuit priest, philosopher and Auxiliary Bishop of Chur *

Wilhelm Imkamp Wilhelm Imkamp (born 27 September 1951) is a German Catholic Church, Catholic priest, theologian, and church historian. A former member of the Papal household, he was appointed as a Prelate of Honour of His Holiness in 2006 and an Protonotary ...

, German priest, theologian and professor * Francesco Lana de Terzi, Italian Jesuit priest and aeronautics scientist * Bernard Lonergan, Canadian Jesuit priest, philosopher, theologian and economist * Heinrich Maier, Austrian priest and resistance fighter against Nazi Germany * Mary McAleese, former President of Ireland *

John Navone John J. Navone Society of Jesus, S.J. (born October 19, 1930 – died December 25, 2016) was a Society of Jesus, Jesuit priest, theologian, philosopher, educator, author, raconteur, and Professor Emeritus of Pontifical Gregorian University in Ro ...

, American Jesuit priest, professor, theologian and author Pontificia Università Gregoriana facciata notte

* Denis Fahey, Irish priest and theological writer * Athanasius Kircher, German Jesuit priest, scholar and polymath * Hans Küng, Swiss priest and theologian * Charles Curran, American priest and moral theologian *

Vincenzo Riccati Vincenzo Riccati (Castelfranco Veneto, 11 January 1707 – Treviso, 17 January 1775) was a Venetian mathematician and physicist. Life Vincenzo Riccati was the brother of Giordano Riccati, and the second son of Jacopo Riccati. He entered the ...

, Venetian Jesuit priest and inventor of hyperbolic functions *

Luca Valerio Luca Valerio (1553–1618) was an Italian mathematician. He developed ways to find volumes and centers of gravity of solid bodies using the methods of Archimedes. He corresponded with Galileo Galilei and was a member of the Accademia dei Lince ...

, Italian Jesuit priest and mathematician * Paul Guldin, Swiss Jesuit priest, mathematician and astronomer * Óscar Romero, Salvadoran archbishop and activist *

Gian Vittorio Rossi Gian Vittorio Rossi, also known as Giano Nicio Eritreo, (1577–1647) was an Italian poet, philologist, and historian. Life and works Rossi was born in Rome to a well-to-do family and lived his entire life in the city of his birth. He was educ ...

, Italian poet, philologist and historian *

Janni Sabucco Janni is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: * Janni Arnth Jensen (born 1986), Danish football player * Janni Howker, British author * Janni Lee Simner, American author * Janni Spies, Danish businesswoman * Antoni ...

, Italian poet, writer and homiletic speaker *

Andrea Salvadori Andrea Salvadori (1591 – buried 25 August 1634) was an Italian poet and librettist. He was born in Florence and educated at the Collegio Romano in Rome. From 1616 until his death in Florence at the age of 43, he was the principal court poet to the ...

, Italian poet and librettist * Henricus Smeulders, Belgian Procurator General of the Order of Cistercians * John Wijngaards, Dutch theologian and former priest *

James V. Schall James Vincent Schall (January 20, 1928 – April 17, 2019) was an American Jesuit Roman Catholic priest, teacher, writer, and philosopher. He was, most recently, Professor of Political Philosophy in the Department of Government at Georgetown Un ...

, American Jesuit priest, writer, philosopher and professor *

Francis A. Sullivan Francis Alfred Sullivan (May 21, 1922 – October 23, 2019) was an American Catholic theologian and a Jesuit priest, best known for his research in the area of ecclesiology and the magisterium. Early life and Jesuit formation Francis "Frank ...

, American Jesuit priest, theologian and professor * Anderson Sunda-Meya, Congolese-American physicist and educator *

David Tracy David W. Tracy (born 1939) is an American theologian and Roman Catholic priest. He is Andrew Thomas Greeley and Grace McNichols Greeley Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of Catholic Studies at the University of Chicago Divinity School. In 20 ...

, American priest, theologian and professor * Niccolò Zucchi, Italian Jesuit priest, astronomer and physicist *

Patrick Augustine Kalilombe Patrick Augustine Kalilombe (28 August 1933 – 25 September 2012) was a Roman Catholic theologian who was the Bishop of Lilongwe from 1972 to 1979. Kalilombe was born in Mua, Malawi hen Nyasaland He was ordained a priest with the White Fathers ...

, Malawian theologian and Bishop of Lilongwe, Malawi * Samuel Ruiz, Mexican liberation theologian and bishop of Diocese of San Cristóbal de Las Casas *

Sandra M. Schneiders Sandra Marie Schneiders, I.H.M. (born 12 November 1936), is professor emerita in the Jesuit School of Theology at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. She has published numerous works on spirituality, feminism, and theology. ...

, American theologian, writer and professor *

Princess India of Afghanistan Princess India of Afghanistan (Pashto/ prs, شاهدخت اندیا ''Shahdukht Hindia'', it, Principessa India d'Afghanistan; born 7 June 1929) is the youngest daughter of Amanullah Khan and Soraya Tarzi, who were respectively King and Queen o ...

Mary Milligan Mary Milligan (January 23, 1935 – April 2, 2011) was an American theologian, a university administrator, and a member of the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary (RSHM) who served as the tenth general superior of the Institute of the RSHM ...

, theologian and professor. First woman to graduate from the GregorianPoss, Janice. Chapter 7 "Mary Milligan, RSHM, STD: Selvage Leadership within the Fabric of Church" in Colleen D. Hartung, editor. Challenging Bias against Women Academics in Religion, October 25, 2021, atla open press, pages 145-175 ISBN 978-1949800272 https://doi.org/10.31046/atlaopenpress.46 *

Paolo Benanti Paolo Benanti (Rome, 20 July 1973) is an Italian presbyter, theologian and academic of the Third Order of Saint Francis, Third Order Regular of St. Francis. He teaches at the Pontifical Gregorian University and is advisor to Pope Francis on issues ...

, Franciscan of Third Order Regular, theologian and professor The vast majority of the Church's leading experts come from the Gregorian; one-third of the current College of Cardinals studied there at one time or another, and more than 900 bishops worldwide are among its 12,000 living alumni.

References

External links

Pontificia Università Gregoriana

UniGregoriana on Facebook

UniGregoriana on Twitter

UniGregoriana on YouTubePontifical Gregorian University

The Gregorian University Foundation

Historical Archives of the Pontifical Gregorian University

Scholars and Literati at the Gregorian University of Rome (1551–1773)Repertorium Eruditorum Totius Europae – RETE.
{{Authority control 1551 establishments in the Papal States Education in Rome Educational institutions established in the 1550s Jesuit universities and colleges Gregorian Properties of the Holy See Roman Colleges Seminaries and theological colleges in Italy