Pontifical Gregorian University
| Pontificia Università Gregoriana | |
 |
|
| Latin: Pontificia Universitas Gregoriana | |
| Motto | Latin: Religioni et Bonis Artibus (For Religion and Culture) |
|---|---|
| Type | Private Pontifical University |
| Established | 23 February 1551 (466 years ago) |
| Affiliation | Catholic, Jesuit |
| Chancellor | Cardinal Giuseppe Versaldi |
| Rector | Rev. François-Xavier Dumortier, S.J. |
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Academic staff
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Theology, Canon Law, Philosophy, History and Cultural Heritage of the Church, Missiology, Social Sciences |
| Location |
Piazza della Pilotta, 4 Rome, Italy, Italy 41°53′56″N 12°29′5″E / 41.89889°N 12.48472°ECoordinates: 41°53′56″N 12°29′5″E / 41.89889°N 12.48472°E |
| Nickname | the Greg |
| Website | www.unigre.it |
The Pontifical Gregorian University (Italian: Pontificia Università Gregoriana; also known as the Gregorianum, or the PUG, or Greg) is a pontifical university located in Rome, Italy. It was originally a part of the Roman College founded in 1551 by Saint Ignatius of Loyola. The Collegio included all grades of schooling, and it is its university division of philosophy and theology that was given Papal approval in 1556 that made it the first university founded by the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). In 1584 the university was given a grandiose home by Pope Gregory XIII, after whom it was renamed. Only the theology and philosophy departments survived the political turmoil in Italy after 1870. Its international faculty serves around 3800 students from over 150 countries.
Saint Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus, established a School of Grammar, Humanities, and Christian Doctrine (Scuola di grammatica, d'umanità e di Dottrina cristiana) on 18 February 1551 in a building at the base of the Capitoline Hill, on today's Piazza d'Aracoeli.. Saint Francis Borgia, the vice-king of Catalonia who became a Jesuit himself, provided financial patronage. With a small library connected to it, this school was called the Collegio Romano (Roman College). In September of the same year, the site was transferred to a larger facility behind the Church of San Stefano del Cacco due to the large number of students seeking enrollment. After only two years of existence, the Roman College already counted 250 alumni.
In January 1556, Pope Paul IV authorized the College to confer academic degrees in theology and philosophy, thereby raising the school to the rank of university. During the following two decades, due again to an increased number of students, the university changed its location twice. During this period, a chair in moral philosophy was added, and a chair in Arabic was added to the already existing chairs in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. With the university counting more than a thousand pupils at this point, Pope Gregory XIII wished to give it a more suitable headquarters. Two blocks near the Via del Corso were expropriated, and the architect Bartolomeo Ammannati was commissioned to design a grand new edifice for the institute. The new building was inaugurated in 1584, in what became known as the Piazza Collegio Romano, across from the Palazzo Doria Pamphilj. For his sponsorship of the Roman College, Gregory XIII became known as its "founder and father", and from that point the school acquired the title of the "Gregorian University".
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