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60-806: Along with the Pontifical Oriental Institute , the Pontifical Biblical Institute was incorporated into the Pontifical Gregorian University under a single rector when the new statutes of the Gregorian took effect on 19 May 2024. The Pontifical Biblical Institute, along with the Pontifical Biblical Institute Library , was founded by Pope Pius X in the apostolic letter Vinea Electa in 1909 as

120-436: A balanced programme of societal structures, art, culture, history. In this curriculum, languages play a major part, and, besides Italian which is the main teaching language, ancient Greek, Syriac , Russian, and Church Slavonic, have always loomed large. Besides Armenian , Coptic , Ethiopic , and Georgian, which have become part and parcel of the curriculum, in recent years modern Greek and Romanian have been added. Modern Greek

180-544: A cardinal (cfr. canon 257 of the Pio-Benedictine Codex Iuris canonici of 1917 specified precisely this). Already three years after founding the Orientale, Benedict XV granted it, through the apostolic constitution, Quod nobis in condendo , the right to confer degrees. From the start the pope insisted on the necessity of a richly supplied Eastern library to second the study and the research of

240-617: A centre of advanced studies in Holy Scripture . At first, the Institute prepared students for exams at the Pontifical Biblical Commission . In 1916, it was licensed by Pope Benedict XV to grant academic degrees in the name of the commission. In 1928, it was licensed by Pope Pius XI to grant doctorates in affiliation with the Pontifical Gregorian University , independently of the commission. A branch

300-409: A committee to administer the palace. The major additions and decorations of the palace are the work of the following popes for 150 years. Construction of the current version of the palace began on 30 April 1589 under Pope Sixtus V and its various intrinsic parts were completed by later successors, Pope Urban VII , Pope Innocent XI and Pope Clement VIII . In the 20th century, Pope Pius XI built

360-506: A community, with the adjoining community of the Pontifical Russian College , popularly known as Russicum. The hundred year history of the institution (1917-2017) may tentatively be divided, first, into an eleven year period at the beginning, when the Orientale was trying to assert itself and become recognized, which came with Pius XI’s encyclical dedicated to the Orientale, Rerum orientalium (1928). Then followed

420-520: A corresponding codex. Secretary of this commission was Fr. Ivan Žužek (1924-2004). The Orientale, with its professors of canon law, continues to serve as the main centre for the elaboration of the Code which is used around the world by both Catholic and Orthodox churches of the East. Besides instruction for licentiate to doctoral degrees, the Orientale has acquired a name for its publications. In 1923 appeared

480-627: A first academic degree, irrespective of their religious affiliation, Latin or Eastern Catholic, Orthodox or otherwise, to deepen their knowledge of the Christian East in its Churches, theology, spirituality, liturgy, discipline, history, and culture. The student population comes largely from the countries of the Eastern churches: the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Africa (Egypt, Ethiopia, and Eritrea), and Asia (Mesopotamia; Kerala, India), with

540-628: A law of their own, allowing each of the sui juris Churches in the East to further develop its own particular law. (b) Another monumental contribution was the critical edition of the documents of the Council of Florence (1438-1445) by the professors of the Faculty of Eastern Ecclesial Sciences. This led to the decision of Pius XII in 1947 to purify the Armenian Catholic Rite of Latinization . Among other scholarly works of note are

600-745: A monumental art gallery and museum entrance. Construction of the Papal Palace (also known as the Apostolic Palace or Vatican Palace) at the Vatican in Vatican City, took place mainly between 1471 and 1605. Covering 162,000 square metres (1,743,753 square feet), it contains the papal apartments, offices of the Roman Catholic Church and Holy See, chapels, Vatican Library, museums and art galleries. The Apostolic Palace

660-544: A new chapter of the Orientale’s relating to the hitherto forbidden East started and many new students from these countries could now study at the Orientale. The Pontifical Library of the Institute is without a doubt the greatest gem of the Orientale. It is one of the best equipped libraries regarding the Christian East in the world. Some books which were discarded during the early years of the Soviet Union were bought for

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720-623: A significant number of students from Europe and the Americas interested in learning about the Christian East. Today, with the flood of migrants and refugees from some of the above countries, students also come from the diaspora communities. The Orientale’s first provisional seat was in the immediate vicinity of the Vatican , in the Palazzo dei Convertendi , Piazza Scossacavalli, which later had to give way to Via della Conciliazione . The Institute

780-475: A suite of apartments for Pope Julius II . He commissioned Raphael, then a relatively young artist from Urbino , and his studio in 1508 or 1509 to redecorate the existing interiors of the rooms entirely. It was possibly Julius' intent to outshine the apartments of his predecessor (and rival) Pope Alexander VI , as the Stanze are directly above Alexander's Borgia Apartments. They are on the second floor, overlooking

840-403: A thirty-year period bringing us to the eve of Vatican II (1928-1958), when already some of the rich harvest that was expected began to be reaped, and the foundations for others to build on had been laid. Yet the next thirty years after the council up to 1989, the fresh breath of Vatican II brought accrued interest in the Christian East and in the Orientale. When with 1989 Eastern Europe opened up,

900-476: Is a suite of rooms in the palace adapted for personal use by Pope Alexander VI (Rodrigo de Borja). He commissioned the Italian painter Pinturicchio to lavishly decorate the apartments with frescoes. The paintings and frescoes, which were executed between 1492 and 1494, drew on a complex iconographic program that used themes from medieval encyclopedias, adding an eschatological layer of meaning and celebrating

960-694: Is also known as the Papal Palace , the Palace of the Vatican and the Vatican Palace . The Vatican itself refers to the building as the Palace of Sixtus V , in honor of Pope Sixtus V , who built most of the present form of the palace. The building contains the papal apartments , various offices of the Catholic Church and the Holy See , private and public chapels, Vatican Museums , and

1020-455: Is divided into four levels, whereby one may obtain a diploma from the Greek government. For canon law students, Latin is required and taught. A well-developed Italian language programme has become the hard core of the propaedeutic year. Branching off from the Faculty of Eastern Ecclesial Sciences, the faculty of canon law was created in 1971, partly in view of the revision of Eastern canon law and

1080-693: Is entrusted to the Society of Jesus. Its chancellor is the Prefect of the Congregation for the Eastern Churches and its vice-chancellor is the superior general of the Society of Jesus , while the Congregation for Catholic Education is the dicastery competent for approving the academic programmes of the Orientale. Each year, another approximately 400 scholars visit the library for research purposes. The Institute has been incorporated along with

1140-738: Is run by the Prefecture of the Pontifical Household . The palace is more accurately a series of self-contained buildings within the well-recognized outer structure which is arranged around the Courtyard of Sixtus V (Cortile di Sisto V). It is located northeast of St Peter's Basilica and adjacent to the Bastion of Nicholas V and Palace of Gregory XIII. The Apostolic Palace houses both residential and support offices of various functions as well as administrative offices not focused on

1200-1224: The Florentine Acts . The Orientale has been blessed with a whole generation of outstanding liturgists, such as Miguel Arranz, SJ. Samir Khalil Samir , SJ has put the Arab-Christian Literature on the map. Gustav Wetter, SJ was a world authority on Marxism. Placid J. Podipara , C.M.I, was a world expert on the St Thomas Christians . The list of famous students begins with Blessed Eugène Bossilkoff, bishop of Nicopolis in Bulgaria and martyr. In April 2013, two alumni Orthodox bishops were kidnapped in Aleppo, Syria: Greek Orthodox Bishop Paul Yazigi and Syrian Orthodox Bishop Mor Gregorius Yohanna Ibrahim. Their whereabouts remain unknown. Other alumni of singular note are: Engelbert Kirschbaum, SJ, archeologist; Robert Murray, SJ, Syriacist; Alessandro Bausani, islamologist; Hans-Joachim Schultz, liturgist, Lambert Beauduin, OSB, founder of Chevetogne and René Vouillaume, prior of

1260-645: The Pontifical Biblical Institute into the Pontifical Gregorian University under a single rector, as of 19 May 2024, when new statutes of the Gregorian take effect. The Pontifical Oriental Institute is a school of higher studies that has as its particular mission the service of the Oriental Churches. It is to make known to the churches of the East “the immense richness ... preserved in the treasure chests of their traditions” (GP II, Orientale Lumen 4) and equally to make known to

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1320-660: The Vatican Library , including the Sistine Chapel , Raphael Rooms , and Borgia Apartment . The modern tourist can see these last and other parts of the palace, but other parts, such as the Sala Regia (Regal Room) and Cappella Paolina , had long been closed to tourists, though the Sala Regia allowed occasional tourism by 2019. The Scala Regia (Regal Staircase) can be viewed from one end and used to enter

1380-568: The Biblicum, the following were elevated to the episcopate and/or the cardinalate : Pontifical Oriental Institute The Pontifical Oriental Institute , also known as the Orientale , is a Catholic institution of higher education located in Rome and focusing on Eastern Christianity . The plan of creating a school of higher learning for Eastern Christianity had been on the agenda of

1440-521: The Catholic Church since at least Pope Leo XIII , but it was only realized in 1917 by Pope Benedict XV . The Orientale forms part of the consortium of the Pontifical Gregorian University (founded in 1551) and the Pontifical Biblical Institute (founded in 1909), both in Rome. All three institutions are run by the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). While the Orientale depends on the Holy See , its management

1500-551: The Congregation ; Sunny Kokkaravalayil (May 2009-May 2010), who was pro-rector for a year and superior for seven; James McCann (2010-2015), who after leaving office became Senior Vice President of the Gregorian Foundation, New York; Samir Khalil Samir , who was pro-rector from 20 April 2015 to 25 August 2015, and David Nazar (2015-), in whose term the Orientale was not only re-structured but also became fused, as

1560-467: The East. Nearby, there is a marble slab reminding us that St Cyril, St Methodius’ brother, died there in 869. As part of the complex of the block where the Orientale is there is the church of St. Anthony the Great (S. Antonio Abate), of whom all Easterners are particularly fond. He is also popular in Rome, where people still recall the times when the blessing of the animals took place in this church. Ever since

1620-634: The Institute during the war period; Ignacio Ortiz de Urbina (1951-1957), a Basque and a renowned patristic scholar; Alphonse Raes (1957-1962), an accomplished Syriac scholar who became Prefect of the Vatican Library; Joseph Gill (1962-1963), a great expert on the Council of Florence (1438-1445) and chief editor of the Acts of this council; and again Joseph Gill (1964-1967), who in 1965 began to bear

1680-461: The Latin West these riches so little explored. Its mission is to pursue research, teaching, and publishing related to the traditions of the Eastern Churches in their theology, liturgy, patristics, history, canon law, literature and languages, spirituality, archaeology, and questions of ecumenical and geopolitical importance. The aim of the Orientale is to educate students already in possession of

1740-536: The Orientale Library, such that it alone has the entire Pravda collection, for example. The library space was considerably enlarged by John Paul II after his visit to the Orientale in 1987. The "aula magna", a conference hall which hosts part of the library and was re-furbished for the centenary celebrations in 2017, provides a "safe space" for international discussions on problematic yet delicate themes. Syria, autocephaly , genocide, nonviolence, are some of

1800-464: The Orientale population. At the beginning the professors were chosen from various orders and even among lay people. These were a White Father, Antoine Delpuch (1868-1936), who served as pro-president in the first year of the Orientale's functioning (1918-1919); two Benedictines, including Ildefonso Schuster; three Assumptionists, including Martin Jugie (1878-1954), a professor at the Orientale for only

1860-722: The Petits Frères de Jésus. A promising theologian, who was shot dead by the Nazis during World War II, studied here, too: Yves de Montcheiul, SJ (1900-1942). 41°53′50″N 12°29′59″E  /  41.89722°N 12.49972°E  / 41.89722; 12.49972 Apostolic Palace The Apostolic Palace is the official residence of the Pope , the head of the Catholic Church , located in Vatican City . It

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1920-539: The Sala Regia. The Cappella Paolina remains closed to tourists. In the 5th century, Pope Symmachus built a papal palace close to the Old St. Peter's Basilica which served an alternative residence to the Lateran Palace . The construction of a second fortified palace was sponsored by Pope Eugene III and extensively modified under Pope Innocent III in the twelfth century. Upon returning to Rome in 1377 after

1980-665: The Signature") and the Stanza dell'Incendio del Borgo ("The Room of the Fire in the Borgo "). After the death of Julius in 1513, with two rooms frescoed, Pope Leo X continued the program. Following Raphael's death in 1520, his assistants Gianfrancesco Penni , Giulio Romano and Raffaellino del Colle finished the project with the frescoes in the Sala di Costantino . The Borgia Apartments

2040-602: The Slavs, Saints Cyril and Methodius, deposited their liturgy books, an indication that now, after the pope’s approval, one could celebrate the liturgy in Church Slavonic. In a side street opposite against the Orientale there is the Basilica of Santa Prassede , with its Carolingian mosaics attesting Pope St Pascal I’s revulsion against the iconoclasm which at the time of the construction of the Basilica (817) had resumed in

2100-467: The ancient fortified palace of Eugene III to erect a new building, the current Apostolic Palace. In the 15th century, the palace was placed under the authority of a prefect . This position of apostolic prefecture lasted from the 15th century until the 1800s, when the Papal States fell into economic difficulties. In 1884, when this post was reviewed in light of saving money, Pope Leo XIII created

2160-483: The chapel is as a venue for the election of each successive Pope in a conclave of the College of Cardinals . In this closed-door election, the cardinals choose a successor to the traditional first Pope, Peter , who according to tradition is buried in the crypts of nearby St. Peter's Church. This suite of rooms is famous for its frescos by a large team of artists working under Raphael . They were originally intended as

2220-603: The creation of the Pontifical Russian College in 1929, known as the Russicum , by Pius XI (1921-1939), the church has been run by Jesuits living in the college. In many ways, therefore, the position of the Orientale is ideal. The Orientale was created as a twin institution to the Congregation for the Eastern Church, whose name would change in 1967 to Congregation for the Eastern Churches. Without

2280-615: The demise of the Ottoman empire in sight, the pope decided to act. With the motu proprio regarding the Eastern Congregation, Providentis Dei (1.05.1917), the pope created the Oriental Congregation; with the other motu proprio Orientis catholici (15.10.1917), he created the Orientale. The pope reserved to himself the prefecture of the new Congregation, whose head was therefore only a Secretary, although

2340-522: The early church in Asia Minor, and so on. Guillaume Jerphanion , SJ, made a name for himself through his study of archaeology and the rock-hewn churches of Cappadocia . Marcel Viller, SJ, after teaching patristics at the Orientale, moved to become one of the founders of the monumental Dictionnaire de Spiritualité . According to his successor Cardinal Tomáš Špidlík , SJ, himself a noted exponent for Russian spiritual theology, Irenée Hausherr laid

2400-740: The finest study to date, in 6 volumes, of the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom ; the Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Christian East; annotated translations of 9th-13th-century Syrian manuscripts; a seven-volume edition of Vatican archival documents on the Armenian Question (1894-1925); a similar edition on the Chaldean-Assyrian question (1908-1938); annotated catalog of 150 Ethiopian manuscripts; detailed archaeological studies of mosaics, frescoes, and architecture of

2460-459: The first few years, but who was to write a monumental synthesis of the history of Eastern theology; a Dominican; a Mechitarist; four Jesuits, including Guillaume de Jerphanion (1877-1948), a famous archaeologist; two Russians, a Greek and an Ethiopian; and three lay persons, including Michelangelo Guidi, an outstanding philologist and a historian. Soon after Pius XI became pope he felt that it would be better if one order took care not only of running

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2520-568: The first number of Orientalia christiana. When hundred such numbers had been published, the series was divided, in 1934, in Orientalia Christiana Analecta , exclusively for monographs, and Orientalia Chrisitana Periodica , for articles and book reviews. These publications were written by experts in the field and acquired by libraries. After the promulgation of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches (CCEO), in 1990, it

2580-401: The foundations of Eastern spirituality, and his books sell as if they were written yesterday – as do the works of Juan Mateos , SJ, who, in the wake of Anton Baumstark (1872-1948), is considered by R.F. Taft, SJ and G. Winkler, to have founded at the Orientale "The Mateos School of Comparative Liturgiology". Georg Hofmann, SJ, was a German Church historian, who had a big part in the editing of

2640-427: The hands of the Russians in 1774 (cf. the Treaty of Kutchuk-Kainarji) , becoming ever more poignant ever since Napoleon set foot in Egypt in 1798: what was to be done with the millions of Christians under the Ottomans once the Ottoman empire would disappear? The question reached its acme in the Eucharistic Congress of Jerusalem in 1893, when the Eastern Catholic Patriarchs made the grievances of their communities known to

2700-462: The interlude of the Avignon Papacy , which saw Rome subject to civil unrest and the abandonment of several Christian monuments, the popes chose to reside first at Basilica di Santa Maria in Trastevere and then at Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore . The Vatican Palace had fallen into disrepair from lack of upkeep, and the Lateran Palace underwent two destructive fires, in 1307 and 1361, which resulted in irreparable harm. In 1447, Pope Nicholas V razed

2760-408: The life and functions of the Pope himself. Perhaps the best known of the palace chapels is the Sistine Chapel named in honor of Sixtus IV (Francesco della Rovere). It is famous for its decoration that was frescoed throughout by Renaissance artists including Michelangelo , Sandro Botticelli , Pietro Perugino , Pinturicchio , Domenico Ghirlandaio , and others. One of the primary functions of

2820-429: The link to this important organ of the Holy See, it would be impossible to grasp the purpose and mission of the Orientale, nor how the Orientale could be founded in the midst of the "useless massacre" of World War I, 1917. The question to which the creation of the Orientale was meant to be the answer had been long in coming. Known as la question d’Orient, the question was first posed after the Ottoman’s humiliating defeat at

2880-403: The oldest known text of the Anaphora of Addai and Mari , little could he have imagined how useful it was for the Congregation of Faith in 2001 when it decided for the orthodoxy and validity of an anaphora without the explicit words of consecration. The CCEO was to a large extent prepared at the Orientale. It represents a huge step forward for Easterners because, for the first time, they have

2940-401: The papal legate, Cardinal Benoît Langenieux, who forwarded them to the pope. Leo XIII at once convoked an assembly of Eastern Catholic Patriarchs for the following year (1894), from which emerged the apostolic letter Orientalium dignitas , known as the Magna Carta of the rights of Eastern Catholics. With the collapse of the Russian empire a reality after the February revolution of 1917 and

3000-416: The place but also of preparing those who could eventually take over. His choice fell on the Jesuits, and in a brief to Fr. General Vladimir Ledochowski (14.09.1922) he entrusted to the Order the Orientale. This had been the suggestion of Abbot Alfredo Ildefonso Schuster, OSB, who had also become, in the meantime, the first full president. Now it was the turn of the first Jesuit president (1922-1931), and that

3060-407: The south side of the Belvedere Courtyard . From east to west, as a visitor would have entered the apartment, but reversing the sequence in which the Stanze were frescoed, and also the route of the modern visitor, the rooms are the Sala di Constantino ("Hall of Constantine"), the Stanza di Eliodoro ("Room of Heliodorus"), the Stanza della Segnatura (the earliest and the most admired) ("Room of

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3120-428: The supposedly divine origins of the Borgias . The rooms are variously considered a part of the Vatican Library and Vatican Museums . Some of the rooms are now used for the Vatican Collection of Modern Religious Art , inaugurated by Pope Paul VI in 1973. The Clementine Hall was established in the 16th century by Pope Clement VIII in honor of Pope Clement I , the third pope. Like other chapels and apartments in

3180-500: The themes to which imams, diplomats, Patriarchs, Cardinals, and "people on the ground" have participated. As an Institute, the Orientale has only two faculties, one for ecclesiastical sciences, the other for Eastern canon law. At first there was only one faculty, and it comprised the programme already outlined in Benedict XV's founding charter (1917), that is theology, comprising spirituality, liturgy , and canon law, plus archaeology and such subsidiary sciences as are necessary to secure

3240-402: The third ecumenical council of Ephesus (431), which, by emphasizing that Jesus Christ is one person, brought out as a consequence that Mary, his Mother, is the Mother of God, or the Theotokos, as the Greeks call her. As the Basilica prides itself on having the relics of the crib, it is thus liturgically known as “ad Praesepe”, the Church of the Crib. Here, moreover, in the late 860s the apostles of

3300-442: The title of Jesuit Rector; Ivan Žužek (1967-1972), later the secretary of the Pontifical Commission for the revision of Eastern canon law; Georges Dejaifve (1972-1976), noted ecumenist; Eduard Huber (1976-1981), former rector of the Meudon School of Russian; Peter-Hans Kolvenbach (1981-1983), who after a brief stint became Superior general of the Society of Jesus for a quarter of a century (1983-2008); Gilles Pelland (1984-1986), who

3360-417: Was Michel d'Herbigny (1880-1957). A very talented man, he managed to impart to the nascent institution new élan, with its own publications and even the new seat in the Piazza di Santa Maria Maggiore . Complications on his very delicate mission to Russia led to his early retirement. D’Herbigny was followed as president by Emil Hermann (1932-1951), a German canon lawyer of note, whose prudence helped him guide

3420-407: Was briefly re-located to the current premises of the Pontifical Biblical Institute, in via della Pilotta, 25, Rome until 1926 when it settled into its permanent seat at Piazza di Santa Maria Maggiore , 7. Of all churches in Rome, the Basilica of St. Mary Major in the same square is the one which evokes the East most closely. Its famous mosaics were executed under Pope Sixtus III (432-440) to celebrate

3480-451: Was decided to launch a new series for monographs in canon law. In 1992 a new publication, Kanonika, was published, whose first number appeared in 1992. The critical edition of Anaphorae Orientales, beginning with Alphonse Raes in 1939, brought attention to one among the many forgotten treasures of the Christian East and has been continued by the renowned liturgist of the Orientale, Professor Robert Taft , SJ. When William Macomber published

3540-413: Was opened in Jerusalem by Alexis Mallon SJ in 1927 and received the mummy of Iret-hor-iru as a gift from Jesuits in Alexandria in 1928. In 1932, the Oriental Faculty was founded. All of its rectors have been Jesuit priests. Cardinal Bea is particularly noteworthy for having defended the university against charges of Modernism before the Second Vatican Council . Among the prominent alumni of

3600-510: Was soon made rector of the Gregorian University; Gino Piovesana (1986-1990), whose experience as rector of the Sophia University of Tokyo and his expertise in Russian philosophy stood him in good stead; Clarence Gallagher (1990-1995), a canon lawyer, dean and rector; Gilles Pelland (1995-1998), the only rector to have two different terms separated in time; Hèctor Vall Vilardell (1998-2007), whose aplomb assured him nine years as rector; Cyril Vasil' (2007-2009), who after two years became Secretary of

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