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September 2006: Contents
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| Cardinal William J. Levada, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. |
Fifteen New Cardinals — Six Are Consortium Alumni
Long-time Trustee James P. Miscoll Passes Away
Archbishop William Levada Named Cardinal; Highest Ranking American Ever
Cardinal Albert Vanhoye, S.J., Scholar, Rector, Vatican Advisor
Donation from Ryan Memorial Foundation Helped Make the Ricci Conference Centre Possible
Student Numbers for Consortium Schools
Doctoral Dissertations by Language
Fifteen New Cardinals — Six Are Consortium Alumni
His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI created fifteen new Cardinals on March 24, 2006, at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Six are graduates of Gregorian University Consortium institutions:
Cardinal William J. Levada, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. A native of Long Beach, CA, he received his Licentiate in 1962 and Doctorate in 1971 in Sacred Theology at the Gregorian. (See separate article.)
Slovenian Cardinal Franc Rode, C.M., Prefect of the Congregation for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. He studied theology at the Gregorian in 1956-57.
Venezuelan Cardinal Jorge Urosa Savino, Archbishop of Caracas. He received his doctorate in Dogmatic Theology from the Gregorian in 1971.
Cardinal Carlo Caffarra received his Doctorate in Canon Law at the Gregorian in 1964. He is Archbishop of Bologna.
Cardinal Andrea Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo studied philosophy at the Greg from 1948 to 1950 and theology from 1950 to 1954. A longtime Vatican diplomat, he is Arch priest of the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls.
Cardinal Albert Vanhoye, S.J. received his Licentiate in 1958 and his Doctorate in 1963, from the Pontifical Biblical Institute. (See separate article.)
Long-time Trustee James P. Miscoll Passes Away
James P. Miscoll, an energetic and very effective trustee of the Gregorian University Foundation, went to God on March 1. Although the 71 year-old Miscoll had been battling cancer for some time, he remained active on behalf of the Foundation, participating in an Executive Committee meeting and soliciting a major gift just two weeks before his death.
"Jim" as he preferred to be called by one and all, was elected to the Foundation's Board of Trustees in 1993. In October, 1994, together with his fellow trustee Carl Landegger, bringing a wealth of experience as retired vice-chairman of Bank of America he led the first-ever seminar at the Gregorian on Church finances for students from developing countries.
With fellow trustee John R. Costantino, Jim served as co-chairman of the Foundation's successful $25 million capital drive (completed recently) and was extremely active in recruiting supporters and personally contributing to the Foundation. Jim often referred to the Gregorian University Consortium as "the intellectual West Point of the Catholic Church."
Of special note and in recognition of his significant contributions to their countries, Jim was named Knight Commander of the Order of Isabella la Católica by King Juan Carlos I of Spain, and Knight Commander of the North Star by King Carl Gustav XVI of Sweden. A Knight of Malta, he also served as Vice Governor of the Order of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem until his death.
Noting the loss to the Gregorian of Jim's passing, Foundation president Rev. Robert F. O'Toole, S.J. remarked "He was deeply spiritual, exceptionally intelligent and tremendously energetic."
Archbishop William Levada Named Cardinal; Highest Ranking American Ever
Among the new Cardinals installed this March by Pope Benedict XVI is Archbishop William J. Levada, former Archbishop of San Francisco.
Born in Long Beach, California on June 15, 1936, he was sent to Rome in 1958 to pursue his graduate theological studies at the Gregorian University, receiving a doctorate magna cum laude. He then taught theology at St. John's Seminary School of Theology.
In 1976, at the recommendation of then-Archbishop Joseph Bernardin, President of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, Fr. Levada was appointed an official of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in the Vatican. During his six years of service there, he continued teaching theology part-time as an Instructor at the Gregorian University. He was re-appointed to the Congregation in 2000.
In 1982 he was assigned to be Executive Director of the California Catholic Conference of Bishops in Sacramento, and was named Auxiliary Bishop of Los Angeles in 1983. He assisted his classmate Archbishop Roger M. Mahony in the reorganization of the Archdiocese.
In 1986, Bishop Levada was appointed the eighth Archbishop of Portland in Oregon. In Portland, Archbishop Levada devoted time to the recruitment of priestly vocations, the reorganization of Catholic Charities and the Archdiocesan Hispanic Ministry, a new retirement fund and home for priests, and restoration of St. Mary's Cathedral.
In 1995 he was named the seventh Archbishop of San Francisco. On several occasions he was involved in delicate negotiations with the city to find a way of implementing gay-rights issues in a manner consistent with Catholic teaching. He found pastoral uses for several closed churches, such as a homeless shelter and child development center, a new campus ministry apostolate for San Francisco State University, and the establishment of the National Shrine of St. Francis of Assisi in San Francisco's first and oldest parish church. He also established the Catholic Education Endowment Fund for low-income families to afford Catholic education.
From 1986 to 1993 he served as the only American bishop on the Editorial Committee of the Vatican Commission for a Catechism of the Catholic Church; he authored the Catechism's Glossary, which was published in the English-language second edition of the Catechism.
Cardinal Albert Vanhoye, S.J., Scholar, Rector, Vatican Advisor
Cardinal Albert Vanhoye, S.J., born in Hazebrouck, France, in 1923 and ordained a priest in 1954, has given his entire life to studying the scriptures and sharing his insights with students, in books, and with pontifical commissions.
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| A Toast in Honor of then Father Albert Vanhoye. From left: Fr. Delegate Francisco Egana, S.J., His Excellency Giuseppe Pittau, S.J., Cardinal Vanhoye, His Excellency Georges Collier, O.P. and Foundation President Robert F. O’Toole, S.J. |
He received his Licentiate in Letters from the Sorbonne, Masters in philosophy and theology from Jesuit Schools in France and Belgium. In Rome he received his Licentiate and Doctorate from the Pontifical Biblical Institute.
He was Professor of Biblical Exegesis (interpretation) at the Biblical Institute from 1963-1993. His principal teaching areas were the letters of St. Paul. He wrote books in French on the Epistle to the Hebrews and his major work, translated into several languages, is Old Testament Priests and the New Priesthood: According to the New Testament.
Cardinal Vanhoye's service to the Biblical Institute and to the world of scholarship is quite remarkable. He was New Testament Editor of Biblica from 1969 to 1984, Editor-in-Chief of Biblica 1978 to 1984, Director of the series "Analecta Biblica" from 1980 to the Commision’s President, Dean of the Biblical Faculty from 1969 to 1975, and Rector of the Institute from 1984 to 1990.
He served and was an officer in many organizations devoted to scripture studies participated in their conventions, and in some years presided.
Since 1984 he was a member of the Pontifical Biblical Commission and its Secretary from 1990-2001. As Secretary, he was in constant contact with then-Cardinal Josef Ratzinger, the Commision's President.
Over the past 30 years he served both Pope John Paul II and Benedict XVI. He also served, or is serving, on the Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity, and the congregations for Catholic Education, and for the Doctrine of the Faith.
American Jesuit Rev. Stephen Pisano, S.J., current Rector of the Biblicum, said "We at the Biblical Institute are extremely honored that Fr. Vanhoye's career dedicated to biblical studies in addition to his years of service to the Holy See has been recognized in this way."
Among the exceptionally generous donations which made the establishment of the Matteo Ricci Conference Centre at the Gregorian University possible, the largest gift, of $1.13 million, came from the Ryan Memorial Foundation of Pittsburgh. The founders were Mr. and Mrs. John Ryan Jr.
| Pictured on the occasion of her 90th birthday in 2002, are Mrs. Ryan (second row center), to her right, daughter Irene Ryan Shaw, (a Gregorian University Foundation trustee) and the entire Ryan family. |  |
The late Mr. & Mrs. Ryan first became involved in the work of the Foundation in the 1980's after meeting Rev. John Blewett, S.J., who was the Foundation president at that time.
The Gregorian University Foundation wishes to express its profound gratitude to the Ryan Memorial Foundation for their gift, and also to the Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Foundation for the initial gift of $500,000, which was matched by an anonymous European foundation. Thanks is also due for a $250,000 gift from the E.L. Weigand Foundation for multimedia equipment and computers for the Centre.
Other large gifts came from the Harold C. Schott Foundation, the AMS Fund, Mr. & Mrs. William Grant, Mr. & Mrs. John Figge, Mr. & Mrs. Mitchell Milias and an anonymous giver. The anonymous European foundation also matched some of these gifts, bringing us to 94% of our $3.1-million goal.
Featured in a 2005 edition of Report From Rome, the Matteo Ricci Centre is named to honor the greatest Jesuit missionary to China, Rev. Matteo Ricci, S.J., who is revered to this day in China for his contributions to mathematics and philosophy and for his appreciation of Chinese culture.
Student numbers for the Gregorian University, the Pontifical Biblical Institute, and the Pontifical Oriental Institute in 2004-2005.
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Between Jan 1st, 2004, and April 30, 2005, 176 doctoral dissertations were successfully defended at the Gregorian University. The dissertations were written in the following six languages:
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As always, I begin this "Word from the President" with an expression of my grateful thanks for your friendship, goodness and for all that you do to assist the Gregorian Consortium, the Pontifical Gregorian University ("Greg"), the Pontifical Biblical Institute ("Biblicum") and the Pontifical Oriental Institute ("Oriental"). However, after almost three years in this job I have a much deeper appreciation of the quality of your charitable giving. It takes a true "catholic" ("through the whole world") stance, a comprehensive openness to the whole Church and to all human beings, to be a contributor of the Gregorian University Foundation.
Many foundations and not a few individuals have taken a position of helping only their local city or state. Such a position would be easily understood, if it were not exclusive and unnecessarily limiting and left room for reaching out to other concerns in the world. After all, how many foundations or families have made all of their wealth in one city or state? Thus, you can see why I am all the more grateful for your looking beyond local concerns and joining with St. Ignatius in his desire to have a university of the nations, for like him, you, are concerned for all of your fellow human beings.
An example of the comprehensive openness for which I am so in debt to all of you is that of a Lutheran gentleman, Mr. John Herklotz. Mr. Herklotz has left bequests in his will for many charitable organizations. These bequests are determined as percentages of his considerable estate. One of these bequests is a challenge for a match of $150,000.00. Once matched, this bequest become irrevocable and will constitute an endowment fund, to which we hope additional contributions will be made, to honor in perpetuity His Excellency Archbishop John Patrick Foley, the distinguished and able President of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, and to benefit the Center for Interdisciplinary Communications Studies (CICS) at the Pontifical Gregorian University. You may want to share in honoring Archbishop Foley and to help us match this truly generous challenge bequest; by assisting the students of the CICS you will likewise be sharing in their world-wide ministry of evangelization.
May I make a special appeal to our alumni? True, some of you have no need of such an appeal for your generosity exceeds any reasonable expectation. However, we still need to hear from the majority of you. I realize that your ministries have their own financial needs, and you feel responsible to meet those needs first. Nonetheless, the fact remains that you are an alumnus or alumna of one or more of our fine institutions, the Greg, Biblicum or Oriental that the Gregorian University Foundation represents. You are proud of your Ignatian formation and have surely benefited from it. Granted that you are probably not paid a grand salary, still you can do something personally, both financially and through the many contacts and friends you have. So, I ask you, despite your many commitments and overly full schedules, to do what you can to assist us in the noble task of benefiting students who, as you were, are in training to serve the Church and their fellow human beings.
Let's thank God for one another and for the opportunity we share of benefiting the administration, faculty, staff and, particularly, the students of the Greg, Biblicum and Oriental. We have every right to be proud of these institutions and the centuries of service to the Church, but it is also a joy and a considerable personal satisfaction to be able to support and share in their spiritual and academic ministries. My prayer for all of you is that God be good to you as you have been to these fine institutions.
Affectionately and gratefully, in Him,
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