January Reflection
Michael C. McFarland, SJ
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 Earlier this month, we celebrated the Feast of the Epiphany, which centers on the story in Matthew’s Gospel of the Magi, who were led to the newborn Christ by a remarkable star they had discovered. As astronomers, astrologers, soothsayers, they sought to use the best human knowledge available to them to understand the meaning, purpose and direction of the world. According to Matthew’s story, God used their human learning to lead them to the revelation of God’s saving presence in the world. This is taken as a paradigm of how God makes Himself known to all peoples and invites them to share in salvation.
St. Ignatius had a keen sense of how our search for human knowledge and understanding can lead us to God. He had experienced it in his own conversion; and it became a key strategy in the mission of the Society of Jesus to evangelize throughout the world. That is why education has always been so important to Jesuits, both for themselves and as a way of reaching other people.
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Fr. Jacquineau Azetsop SJ, Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the Pontifical Gregorian University, shares this video about the new Licentiate in Leadership and Management.
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Student Profiles
Kyle Poje, a student at the Gregorian University, explores the question:
What is Theology?
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Mateo Pastorelli, a student at the Gregorian Centre for Interreligious Studies, shares his experience of studying for a year at the University of Saint-Joseph in Beirut
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After my Diploma in Interreligious Studies, I had the chance to continue studying Islamic Sciences and Islamo-Christian relations at the Saint Joseph University in Beirut (Lebanon), thanks to the existing agreement between the two Universities and most of all thanks to Fr. Laurent Basanese, the Director of the Gregorian Centre for Interreligious Studies, who has trusted in me since the beginning. Everyone can imagine, the experience as a student abroad is something that really helps you to grow up from both a cultural and a human point of view.
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Greg grad and faculty member invents forerunner to hypertext
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As detailed in The Economist, Fr Roberto Busa, SJ, who was both a graduate of and professor at the Pontifical Gregorian University, approached Thomas Watson, the founder of IBM, in 1949 with a goal of creating a concordance of 179 texts of Thomas Aquinas. Index Thomisticus, was sponsored by IBM which indexed over 10 million words over the course of 34 years. The collaboration between Fr Busa and IBM is considered one of the pioneering projects in the field of digital humanities.
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Alumni News
Fr. Roger Landry
Pontifical Gregorian University
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Fr Roger J. Landry is a priest of the Diocese of Fall River, Massachusetts, who works for the Holy See’s Permanent Observer Mission to the United Nations. He writes for many Catholic publications, including The National Catholic Register and The Anchor, the weekly newspaper of the Diocese of Fall River.
He was recently selected to give the Annual Sheen Lecture at the Sheen Center for Thought and Culture.
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Three alumni at two parishes in Darien, CT
Pontifical Gregorian University
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Rev Msgr Tom Powers STB 1997 became pastor of St John Roman Catholic Church this past fall. Read more HERE
Rev Deacon Brendan Blawie STB 2019 is on pastoral assignment to St Thomas More where his pastor Fr Paul Murphy is also a Greg alumnus from the Class of 1994. Read more HERE
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The latest issue of Ignaziana is available
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Ignaziana is a free online magazine edited by the Ignatian Spirituality Center of the Institute of Spirituality at the Pontifical Gregorian University.
Click HERE to view the full issue.
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One of the articles featured in the latest issue of Ignaziana is a Study in the Spiritualy of Jesusit written by John W. O'Malley, SJ and Timothy W. O'Brien, SJ. The study is entitled, "The Twentieth-Century Construction of Ignatian Spirituality: A Sketch."
Please click HERE to read the full article in English.
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- In Memoriam -
Father Reginald Foster
Pontifical Gregorian University faculty member
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The expert Vatican Latinist, Father Reginald Foster, a friar of the Discalced Carmelite Order, died on Christmas Day at the age of 81. Originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Fr Reginald spent almost 40 years as one of the Vatican's foremost experts in the Latin language. Starting in 1977, he taught ten Latin courses a year at the Gregorian University in Rome.
Greg alumnus, Fr Roger Landry wrote article an on the life of Fr Foster entitled, "Remembering Reginaldus Magnus."
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Father Henry Drozd
Pontifical Gregorian University alumnus
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Fr Henry Drozd, a 1963 graduate of the Pontifical Gregorian University and Army chaplain, died last year. Please click HERE to read his obituary.
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2021 Colloquium in Rome
10-16 October
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Rome through the eyes of Ignatius
See the Eternal City from a unique perspective - from the heart of the Catholic Church and the Society of Jesus. Experience the adventure of Jesuit Rome with its academic, spiritual, social and cultural opportunities. Please join us as we explore from the center to the periphery.
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Mass Cards
available online
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The Gregorian University Foundation is pleased to offer Mass cards for the living and for the deceased.
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Did you know that Amazon gives a percentage of your purchases to nonprofit organizations?
Just click HERE to select the Gregorian University Foundation as your charity of choice. |
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Praying with the Pope in January
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Pope Francis' Universal prayer intention for December is:
Human fraternity
May the Lord give us the grace to live in full fellowship with our brothers and sisters of other religions, praying for one another, open to all.
Reflect further on the Prayer Intention for January and unite yourself with the Pope's Prayer Network
Watch the Pope's Video >>
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