January 2009: Contents

Above, Rev. Abrego, S.J., the new Rector of the Biblicum, celebrates Mass with his predecessor,Rev. Stephen Pisano, S.J.

Rev. José Maria Abrego de Lacy, S.J. named Rector of the Biblical Institute

Rev. Cyril Vasiľ Named Rector Of the Oriental Institute

Cardinal Avery Dulles, Theologian, Passes Away

Trustee John McCollum Passes Away

Trustee Joan Lavezzorio Passes Away

Ambassador Campbell Speaks on "Religion and Foreign Policy"

International Conference on Evolution to be Held at Gregorian

A Word from the President . . .

Rev. José Maria Abrego de Lacy, S.J. named Rector of the Biblical Institute

The Holy Father, Benedict XVI has named José Maria Abrego de Lacy, S.J., new rector of the Pontifical Biblical Institute. Rev. Abrego is the 13th rector of the Institute and succeeds Rev. Stephen Pisano, S.J.

Fr. Abrego was born in Pamplona and entered the Society of Jesus in 1962. He was ordained a priest in Pamplona on June 30, 1973. His academic studies include: Classical Studies at the University of Salamanca (1964-66); License in Philosophy, Berchmanskolleg (SJ) of Pullach (Germany) (1966-68 ); Baccalaureate in Theology: Faculty of Theology at the University of Deusto, Bilbao (1970-74); and a Doctorate in Sacred Scripture from the Biblicum (1983).

He has been a member of the faculty at the University of Deusto since 1977, serving as the Dean of the Faculty of Theology (1988-1994) and the University’s Rector from 1996 to 2003. In addition to his many years of teaching and administration, Fr. Abrego has also authored commentaries and many articles.

Fr. Abrego arrives at the Biblicum as it prepares to celebrate the centenary of its founding in 1909.

Rev. Cyril Vasiľ Named Rector Of the Oriental Institute

Rev. Cyril Vasiľ S.J.

In September of 2007, Benedict XVI named Cyril Vasiľ, S.J., new rector of the Pontifical Oriental Institute. Fr. Vasiľ is the youngest rector in the history of the Institute.

Fr. Vasiľ was born in Košice (in what was then Czechoslovakia) and entered the Society of Jesus in 1990. He received both his Licenctiate and Doctorate at the Orientale and began teaching there in 1994. From 2000 to 2007, Fr. Vasiľ was the Dean of the Faculty of Eastern Canon Law.

Fr. Vasiľ is also a consultor of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, the Congregation for the Oriental Churches, and the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People.

Cardinal Avery Dulles, Theologian, Passes Away

Cardinal Avery Dulles, S.J.

Cardinal Avery Dulles, who was not a bishop, was the first American-born Jesuit Theologian to hold such a high honor. He died at 90 years of age on December 12 at Fordham University in the Bronx.

Cardinal Dulles entered the Jesuit Order in 1945, after attending Harvard and spending time serving in the U.S Navy, and was ordained to the priesthood in 1956. He studied at the Gregorian University and was awarded a doctorate in Sacred Theology in 1960.

A professor of religion at Fordham University for the last 20 years, Cardinal Dulles wrote 27 books and 800 articles, mostly on theology; advised the Vatican and America’s bishops, and staunchly defended the pope and the church.

Avery Dulles was born into an establishment Presbyterian family. According to his second book, A Testimonial to Grace (1946), by the time he entered Harvard in 1936, he was an agnostic. His doubts about God weren’t lessened by his studies of medieval art, philosophy and theology. But on a gray February day in 1939, strolling along the Charles River in Cambridge, he saw a tree in bud and had a profound spiritual experience.

"The thought came to me suddenly, with all the strength and novelty of a revelation, that these little buds in their innocence and meekness followed a rule, a law of which I as yet knew nothing. That night, for the first time in years, I prayed."

In addition to being a Gregorian alumnus and a visiting professor at the University, for the last few years, Cardinal Dulles served as Honorary Chairman of the Gregorian University Foundation in New York.

Trustee John McCollum Passes Away

John J. "Jack" McCollum, a trustee of the Gregorian University Foundation and a former trustee of Fordham University, was called home to God in June of 2008.

Rev. Robert F. O’Toole, S.J., president of the Foundation, said, "It's difficult to capture what a marvelous man Jack was and how much good he did for Fordham University and the Gregorian University Foundation and so many other worthy causes. For years he was the chair of our investment committee and gave us wise and faithful leadership and so helped us benefit The Gregorian University Consortium all the more."

Jack was born in New York City and attended Fordham University where he received a Bachelors of Science in Psychology. Early steps in his career were the New York Stock Exchange and General Electric Credit Corporation. In the 1970’s he was a vice president of the Common Fund, leaving there to become a partner in First Capital Strategists in 1981. Since 1985, Jack was very successful as a private investor.

Jack is survived by his wife, Mary. Anthony "Tony" Guerrerio, Jack's successor as Chair of the Investment Committee of the Gregorian University Foundation, said, "I would like to acknowledge the work and leadership of Jack McCollum. He did yeoman's work for the Gregorian and guided the Foundation to achieve above-the-market returns during particularly turbulent and unsettling times in the world, and therefore, in the markets. As the last verse of the West Point Alma Mater goes: 'Well Done! Be Thou at Peace.'"

Trustee Joan Lavezzorio Passes Away

Joan Lavezzorio

Joan F. Lavezzorio, a trustee of the Gregorian University Foundation and many other charitable institutions, was called home to God on July 13 of 2008.

Rev. Robert F. O'Toole, S.J., president of the Foundation, said, "For eleven and a half years, Joan was a truly generous and active board member of the Gregorian University Foundation and always a pleasure to meet. She was a lively conversationalist and surely loved and enjoyed life, her faith and her family."

Joan was born and lived in Chicago, coming east to attend Marymount College in Tarrytown, NY. She left school to marry “the love of her life” Billy Lavezzorio. Together they created several successful businesses; and when Joan was widowed at a young age, she started a successful career as owner and CEO of the Loyola Paper Company, retiring recently as Chairman of the Board.

In addition to her generous work with the Gregorian, Joan served on the boards of St. Francis Hospital, Loyola Academy, the Mazza Foundation, the Big Shoulders Foundation, Catholic Theological Union, Cabrini Mission Foundation, St. Joseph's Hospital Auxiliary and Catholic Charities of Chicago.

Joan is survived by her six children and her seventeen grandchildren.

Ambassador Campbell Speaks on "Religion and Foreign Policy"

Members of the Foundation’s Board with Ambassador Francis Campbell at the New York Yacht Club, from left: Ellen Shafer, Ambassador Campbell, Peggy Hassett and Peter Mullen.

Her Britannic Majesty's Ambassador to the Holy See, Mr. Francis Campbell, spoke on the topic "Religion and Foreign Policy: A View from the Vatican" at a Gregorian University Foundation event at the New York Yacht Club this last June.

The event was sponsored by trustees and friends of the Foundation: Mr. and Mrs. John Halleron, Mrs. Margaret Brennan Hassett, Mr. and Mrs. Peter Mullen, and Ambassador and Mrs. Robert Shafer.

Mr. Campbell has been the UK’s Ambassador to the Holy See since 2005. He joined the British Diplomatic Service in 1997. Campbell's early diplomatic career focused on Europe with postings to the European Enlargement Unit of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the European Commission, as part of its Delegation to the United Nations in New York. From 2003-2005, he was First Secretary at the British Embassy in Rome and, subsequently, on sabbatical, Senior Policy Director with Amnesty International in London. He is the first Roman Catholic to hold the position since Henry VIII and the first British Ambassador to be appointed by open competition. Furthermore, he is the youngest member of the British diplomatic corps and the youngest ambassador ever posted to the Vatican.

While serving as Her Majesty's Ambassador to the Holy See, Mr. Campbell has attended Christian-Muslim events at the Gregorian University, praising them for providing an opportunity for dialogue — something national governments haven't been quite as successful accomplishing as the Gregorian.

International Conference on Evolution to be Held at Gregorian

A major international conference "Biological Evolution: Facts and Theories: A Critical Human Appraisal 150 Years After 'The Origin of the Species'" will be held at the Gregorian University, March 3-7, 2009.

The conference is jointly organized by the Gregorian University and the University of Notre Dame as part of the STOQ project (Science, Theology and the Ontological Quest). STOQ was founded by Pope John Paul II and is coordinated by the Pontifical Council for Culture. The Gregorian is one of the three pontifical universities that are a major part of STOQ.

His Holiness Benedict XVI has summarized the goals of this project by expressing the necessity of integrating reason and faith in such a way that reason doesn’t pretend to be absolute and thereby become a cause for oppression rather than freedom for humanity and that faith doesn't succumb to superstition.

Above, the Gregorian University page on the Project STOQ website.

A Word from the President . . .

Dear Friends,

Christmas always reminds us how much we have for which to be grateful. Actually, thanking God is the most reasonable thing we Christians can do; for he has given us everything we have and are able to do, and we really cannot repay him. However, we can thank him, and we want to thank each of you for being his agents of caring and concerned support for the Gregorian University Consortium and its service of the universal Church. Our schools are forming future leaders for the Church we all love, but half of our highly qualified students come from developing countries and definitely need your help to receive the kind of formation they need.

Our new Fr. General, Adolfo Nicolás, S.J., wrote a letter to the whole Society about the recent General Synod on "The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church." He was impressed that the Synod included more than 70 graduates from our Pontifical Biblical Institute and many more who were graduates of the Pontifical Gregorian University and Pontifical Oriental Institute.

He found this information a cause of joy but was also filled with a sense of responsibility to continue rendering this service to the Church. Obviously, we can only render this service as we should with your caring and concerned assistance for these internationally recognized Jesuit institutions of higher education, the Gregorian University Consortium.

Experts in fundraising tell us that a recession or downturn in our country's economical situation does not diminish giving; we hope and pray that this is true. So, I appeal to all our alumni and our benefactors to continue their charitable giving, and may I likewise ask that you put the Gregorian University Foundation in your will?

You probably prefer to use your own financial advisers for any planned giving, which can prove quite economically beneficial and still allow you to make a gift that otherwise you might not be able to give. However, we are at your disposition to be of assistance. Please keep us among your charitable priorities and do assist the fine students and institutions that we all admire; they are surely worthy of your support. May God richly reward you for your past and present goodness and let you experience the personal satisfaction that comes from giving as he always gives to us. You are continually in my prayers.

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