The Pontifical Gregorian University

The Greg

Now in the midst of my sixth week of class, out of twelve total, I thought I'd finally write a little bit about the university that I attend. As you may recall, I'm a seminarian at the North American College, where I live and where I learn the particulars about being a diocesan priest in the United States. However, the academic work which my classmates and I must complete in order to obtain the necessary degree to be ordained is done in a normal university setting. I'm privileged to be a student of the Pontifical Gregorian University, the oldest and most distinguished example of the Jesuit university tradition. One of the oldest and most prestigious universities in the world, it's without a doubt one of the two or three greatest hubs for theological thought in the world. Needless to say, I'm lucky to be here!

Founded in 1551 as the Roman College by Saint Ignatius himself, the founder of the Society of Jesus, it was originally intended to be a place of education for his Jesuit companions in both secular and religious thought. It was an instant hit, however, and soon its enrollment expanded to include non-Jesuit students as well. Within a few years, it had gained papal approval to grant philosophical and theological degrees and thus the college became a university. In 1584, due to the now very large student body and the growing faculty, Pope Gregory XIII, a great benefactor to the university and its eventual namesake, secured a new location for the university in central Rome, near the Via del Corso and across the square from the Doria Pamphilj Palace, known today for its famous art gallery. The university was located there for nearly 350 years, all the while weathering the many political storms of Italy's history (including the fall of the Papal States and the rise of the Kingdom of Italy in the 1870s), before moving to the base of the Quirinal Hill in the Piazza della Pilotta after World War I. Even today, though technically on Italian soil, the Gregorian possesses a certain extraterritorial status as stated in the Lateran Treaty. It is, accordingly, exempt from all Italian tax, and the Italian government cannot subject the university to "charges or to expropriation for reasons of public utility, save by previous agreement with the Holy See," which in turn can administer the university "as it may deem fit, without obtaining the authorization or consent of the Italian governmental, provincial, or communal authority."

A classroom. Though long ago, the desks and teaching podium are still there.

Today, "The Greg," as it's commonly known, has more than 3000 baccalaureate, licentiate, and doctoral students from more than 150 countries. Priests and seminarians form the large part of the student body, but there are plenty of sisters and men and women lay students as well. Because of its multiculturalism, the Greg has six official languages (Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, English) but many professors also speak other languages, such as Arabic, Hindi, or Russian. Classes, nonetheless, are taught in Italian and, unlike the American university system, there is little to no student participation in class or, even, preparatory work for it. Instead, a class period consists of a 45-minute lecture from the professor. A student's grade is typically evaluated by one 15-minute oral examination covering all the lecture material at semester's end.

My classroom, modern day.

This, of course, is quite daunting, especially the first year or so. Fortunately, a long tradition of ingenuity amongst the American seminarians has produced what is reverently known as The Notes System, whereby each student has a role in transcribing, translating, redacting, or publishing the notes for each class period. Thus, every student has access to the lecture material which, in consultation with previous years' material, is generally sufficient to survive the exam. This system of learning certainly has its difficulties but, because of the lack of day-to-day assignments of the American system, it also provides us a great freedom to research more deeply those topics that particularly interest us.

The most important room in the whole place (the bar), insane for 15 minutes every hour.

One of the main reasons that dioceses decide to send men to Rome and to the North American College is because of the built-in advantage that study here affords. In addition to the great exposure which comes from experiencing life in another country and the life of the Church here in Rome, there is also a pragmatic benefit to being here. In the States, after studying philosophy for either two or four years (depending on one's prior university experience), all seminarians study theology for four years and, generally, obtain a Master of Divinity, the degree necessary for ordination. Should a bishop then want to send a man along for further studies, e.g. in moral theology or canon law, this will generally require at least two years for a graduate degree and at least four for a doctoral degree.

The European system, on the other hand, shortens this by a year. The academic degree needed for ordination, a Bachelor of Sacred Theology (equivalent to a Masters in the U.S.), only requires three years. However, because we still must complete a fourth year of formation (spiritual, pastoral, etc.) before being ordained priests, each Fourth year student begins a graduate program of some sort. He is, then, only one year away from an advanced degree (usually a licentiate, roughly equivalent to a doctorate in the U.S.) should his diocese decide to send him back. Thus, what took at least six years in the States (the degree for ordination + a specialized graduate degree) takes only five here. With the shortage of priests still a problem in most areas of the country, this is no small advantage for a diocese to disregard.


Clear as mud? In short, I'll be at the Greg for my "first cycle" (three years) studying the basic theology which everyone has to study to be ordained. After that, I'll at least start a specialized licentiate program, "second cycle," of some sort which I may or may not complete depending on the pleasure of my diocese.

My classes this semester, should you be interested, are: The Synoptic Gospels; Christology; Church History: Ancient and Medieval; Revelation & Its Transmission in the Church; Faith, Reason, & Theology; and Introduction to New Testament Greek.