July 2005: Contents

Pope Benedict XVI, Former Visiting Professor at the Greg

Pope Benedict XVI (Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger at the time) with students at the Gregorian.

Archbishop Levada Named Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

A Word from the President

Pope John Paul II on the Consortium Institutions

Mrs. Muccia Named Trustee

The Matteo Ricci Conference Center

A Look Back: Studying at the Biblicum

Pope Benedict XVI, Former Visiting Professor at the Greg

His Holiness, Benedict XVI, was a Visiting Professor at the Gregorian University in the Faculty of Theology during the year 1972-1973; in the licentiate program he taught the course, "Doctrine of the Eucharist." In 1998 he attended the Actus Academicus at the Gregorian to honor Rev. Karl Joseph Becker, S.J. on his 70th birthday.

Rev. Stephen Pisano, S.J., Rector of the Biblical Institute with Cardinal Ratzinger, now Benedict XVI.

In December of 2001 he spoke at the Oriental Institute to students from India studying in Rome.

Twice, he appointed Jesuits from the Biblicum to be Secretary of the Biblical Commission of which His Holiness was President; presently, Rev. Klemens Stock, S.J., holds this position as did Rev. Albert Vanhoye, S.J., before him. Besides Fr. Stock, Rev. Jean-Noel Aletti, S.J., serves on the Biblical Commission, as does Rev. Wim Beuken, S.J., who is now and again a Visiting Professor at the Biblicum. His Holiness presided at the annual spring Biblical Commission meeting and graciously joined the Biblical Institute for dinner.

Other members of the Gregorian Consortium schools have worked with His Holiness in the recent past. Rev. Luis F. Ladaria, S.J., from the Gregorian is the secretary of the International Theological Commission of which His Holiness was President.

Revs. Karl Becker, Gianfranco Ghirlanda [current Rector of the Gregorian], Bartholomew Kiely, Luis Ladaria, Klemens Stock, Albert Vanhoye, and Cyril Vasil', all members of the Society of Jesus, are all consultors of the Congregation for Doctrine of the Faith of which His Holiness was the prefect.

Archbishop Levada Named Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

Pope Benedict XVI named San Francisco Archbishop William J. Levada Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Archbishop Levada will be the first American to hold this high rank at the Vatican.

He had served on the Congregation from 1976 to 1982, when he returned to California. He was reappointed to the Congregation in 2000.

Archbishop Levada is an alumnus of the Gregorian University, having received his doctorate in Theology, magna cum laude, in 1971. From 1976 to 1981, he was assistant professor in the Gregorian's Theology Faculty, teaching Propaedeutic Theology. In 1983, Fr. Levada was named Titular Bishop of Capri and Auxiliary Bishop of Los Angeles. He was appointed Archbishop of Portland, Oregon, in 1986, moving to the Archdiocese of San Francisco in 1995.

The following two reflections reveal the balance and careful reaction of Archbishop Levada to theological issues in the Church.

The Rev. Gerald O'Collins, S. J., a Gregorian faculty member who met Archbishop Levada in the early 1970s, said, "I just thought he was someone who was radical middle-of-the-road."

The Rev. Joseph Fessio, S.J., editor of Ignatius Press, which is based in San Francisco, and chancellor of Ave Maria University in Florida, said the archbishop is "someone suspected by the liberals as being too conservative, and suspected by the conservatives as being too liberal."

A Word from the President

There have been some changes in our world. After a long and very productive pontificate His Holiness John Paul II has returned to the Father, and His Eminence Josef Cardinal Ratzinger has become his successor and chosen the name of Benedict XVI.

A distinguished graduate of the Pontifical Gregorian University, Archbishop William Joseph Levada, has been named Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. These events in themselves would make all of us thankful. However, we also have to be thankful for each one of you and for your concerned interest in the well-being of the Gregorian Consortium, which embraces the Pontifical Gregorian University (“Greg”), the Pontifical Biblical Institute (Biblicum) and the Pontifical Oriental Institute (Oriental).

When I first became president of the Gregorian University Foundation, I used to joke and to say that my appeal to you would be, “Money is for loving and doing good.” However, humor always has its serious side; and this appeal really states a principle. We are delighted that each one of you knows how to love and to do good with the many gifts, wealth included, that God has given you. With your loving support, the above named institutions continue to prepare leaders for our Church and for the countries around the world.

Normally in my message, I do not mention particular needs; however, we have a pressing one. The Gregorian University is restructuring its extensive undercroft to create the Matteo Ricci Center. Rev. Matteo Ricci, S.J., the greatest Jesuit missionary to China, was a remarkably brilliant man who embodied missionary enculturation long before others had even thought of the idea. The center, named in his honor, will significantly enhance teaching and learning facilities and provide space for sponsoring international conferences and symposia. It will also bring in rental income to help cover ordinary running expenses. The construction work is almost complete, but now there are the bills to pay. Although two-thirds of the expenses have been covered by European benefactors and you, the bills still to be paid amount to about $1,000,000. Some generous benefactors are planning to help, would you please consider joining their ranks?

May I ask two other favors? If you know individuals who would be interested and willing to support the Gregorian University Consortium, please let us know about them. Also, although I wish you many long and happy years ahead, please consider putting the Gregorian University Foundation in your will; you will be supporting an outstanding cause.

Let me again thank you for all that you have done, are doing and will do to assist the Gregorian University Consortium; we are deeply grateful for your friendship and goodness.

Affectionately and gratefully, in Him,

His Holiness, John Paul II, was a friend of all three schools of the Gregorian University Consortium. Over the years of his pontificate, he spoke at events celebrating their major anniversaries: the 450th anniversary of the Gregorian in 2001, the 70th for the Biblicum in 1979, and the 75th anniversary of the Oriental in 1992. His Holiness spoke these encouraging words:

At the Gregorian (photo at right):
“The first sentiment that stirs my heart on such a happy occasion is sincere and profound gratitude to the Lord for the centuries-old service that your University has rendered to the Gospel’s cause. . . .”

“Given the challenges of today’s society, this is the moment for a courageous re-launching of your institutions. The Lord, who has always guided your steps, today tells you again ‘Duc in Altum! Put out into the deep!’”

At the Biblicum: “One should not be surprised that the Biblicum is held in such high esteem in scholarly circles throughout the world. The Pope is happy to say ‘well done!’ to your administrators and professors on this anniversary.”

At the Orientale (photo at left): “I too am a sort of hidden, secret pupil of this Institute, at least of some of its professors, who help me to read and analyze the texts of the great Eastern, Greek and Russian writers. I am a clandestine student, just as the Church of the East was clandestine for so many years."

"I must say too that I am not so unprepared a pupil, because I not only listen, yes, I do listen, but above all I ask questions, and very pointed ones.”

Margo Muccia has been elected to the Board of Trustees of the Gregorian University Foundation.

Mrs. Muccia is originally from Garden City, New York and attended Newton College of the Sacred Heart.

She is a Dame of Malta, Lady Commander of the Holy Sepulcher, a Eucharistic Minister at St. Vincent’s Hospital and has been actively involved in Meals on Wheels, which provides food to the home-bound.

Mrs. Muccia and her husband, Carrol, have four grown children.

A computer rendering of the main meeting space at the Matteo Ricci Center

When the Gregorian University closed its printing shop, almost the whole undercroft of its main building became available for development, which could help the University meet its need for more space and for having a source of rental income to help cover ordinary running expenses.

The additional space will significantly enhance the teaching and learning facilities of the University by increasing classrooms and seminar rooms by over 20% and will provide for international conferences and symposia, which are increasingly being sponsored by the University or being requested by others including the Vatican.

The decision to name this newly developed area the Matteo Ricci Center was made by the then Rector, Rev. Franco Imoda, S.J.

Matteo Ricci

Perhaps the greatest Jesuit missionary to China, Rev. Matteo Ricci, S.J., was born in 1552 in Italy. He is considered the founder of the modern Chinese Church and a pioneer of cultural relations between Europe and China.

The Matteo Ricci Conference Center will be efficient and elegant, consonant with the University’s image. It will be competitive with the other conference centers in downtown Rome; indeed, it will be the largest of its kind.

Besides classes and seminars for the students, rooms may be used for meetings and conferences as well as for weekly refresher courses, press conferences, expositions, workshops, concerts, cinema presentations, poetry readings, gala dinners etc. Phone and high speed internet lines are planned for all areas. And, of course, there will be a kitchen for caterers and storerooms for furnishings and supplies.

Outside the Gregorian’s main entrance (see photo at right), thanks to the City of Rome, the renovated square (Piazza della Pilotta) will contribute to the attractiveness and prestige of the Matteo Ricci Center and provide an extra outdoor space in a beautiful setting.

An early hint of the center’s financial viability is that the Gregorian is already accepting bookings — even though the space is still under construction — and has a total of six events planned for October-November 2005 and February-March 2006.

The total estimated cost is $3,331,750.

Below, the Italian architect's floor plan for the new convention center.

In October 1973 I matriculated at the Pontifical Biblical Institute; in June, 2006, I will celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of my becoming the first woman to earn a Doctorate in Sacred Scripture.

The first and most obvious benefit of studying in Rome was the quality of the faculty and of the education I received. Because the Biblicum faculty was (and is) international, the biblical methodologies emphasized in many parts of the world were represented (e.g., French, German, British, and Latin American). This means that I studied historical and literary criticism taught by passionate advocates of these methods as well as textual criticism, hermeneutics and the history of exegesis. The assumption, of course, was that the text is sacred, that it contains revelation, God’s Word.

The second benefit of studying in Rome was the international character of the experience itself, including the student body. My friends were Bob O’Toole, S.J., who became Rector of the Biblicum and currently is president of the Gregorian University Foundation; Joe Doan, S.J., who returned to Vietnam to head that country’s Jesuits one week before the fall of Saigon; Mario Lopez, S.J., a Mexican who informally taught us about Medellín and Puebla long before the “preferential option for the poor” had filtered down to my friends in the States; Tony Parish, an English Jesuit who has devoted his life to teaching the New Testament in Zimbabwe; Bill Abbott, an American Jesuit who has spent his life in the Philippines; Philbert Rhewumbiza, a diocesan priest from Tanzania whose doctoral work compared the “God of our fathers” in the Old Testament to the gods of Africa’s Bantu people.

In 2000, I traveled to Thailand to visit a “fellow PIB alum,” Rev. Thasanai Komkris. He teaches at the major seminary north of Bangkok. We studied Introductory Hebrew together with Jim Swetnam, S.J. and have remained friends through Christmas letters. I might have gone on from Thailand to Malaysia to visit Bishop Ha, another classmate. Still another classmate, who became a bishop in Bangladesh, invited me to teach in his seminary.

The Church is global; one can learn that in any theology class. But the opportunity in Rome for such learning is profound. And I have named only a few classmates; four others, from France, Italy, Switzerland and the United States, now teach on the Biblicum faculty. And I would be very remiss if I didn’t mention the education provided me by the Italian culture itself, which, to this Irish American, was its own wonderful learning experience. My landlady phoned about a week before Christmas to wish me “tanti auguri.” She’s 83 now and invited me to return for a visit.

The third benefit of studying in Rome, believe it or not, was to have had that experience as a woman. I hated that I was always an outsider (I couldn’t live at either of the North American Colleges, for example), but I was also the stranger and neighbor who was welcomed (e.g., Exod 22:21; 23:9; Deut 10:19; Luke 10:25-37). This provided me with the opportunity to experience the goodness and holiness of many people. I learned up-close about the complexities of cultures and why change comes so slowly to a global Church.

When I look back now, past the twenty-four years I’ve taught Old Testament at Holy Cross to my years of graduate study in Rome, I am very grateful for that experience. I would urge those who can financially contribute to the Gregorian University Consortium to do so. That support will help to provide an outstanding education. It will allow students to experience a truly international faculty and student body, representative of a global Church. Many of these students will become future leaders in the Church with a deep appreciation of its structure and of the complexities of global cultures.

Alice Laffey is Professor of Religious Studies at College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA.

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