A new Coordination Council for the Lateran University
Pope University presents the newly created body, composed of many lay members. This change is part of the University’s Statutes and will be implemented to accelerate its development and its historic vocation as a place of meeting and dialogue.
By Benedetta Capelli
“A Council that would take even more control over the future of the university, providing it with political and administrative direction. This is the task entrusted by Pope Francis, as Archbishop Alfonso Amarante, rector of the Pontifical Lateran University, explained to Vatican media. A press release published on November 9 presents to the new Higher Coordinating Council of the Pontifical Lateran University, an entity provided for in the Statutes of the University, a new regulation approved by Pope Francis and entered into force on March 1, 2024. This change aims to rationalize its organization while maintaining continuity with the past and looking to the future with a very clear action plan.
A new makeup
The tasks of the Council, which it will exercise for a term of five years, include the orientation and supervision of the activities, programming and planning of the Pontifical Lateran University (PUL) from the academic, scientific point of view and educational, as well as the management of its administration. , economic and financial. These activities are organized through guidelines and procedures for planning and managing human, financial and material resources.
The Council is composed of the Rector, Mgr Alfonso V. Amarante, the Vice-Rector Mgr Riccardo Ferri, the Director General Dr Sabrina Di Maio and the Secretary General of the University, Dr Immacolata Incocciati. Other members include Mgr Roberto Campisi, advisor for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State; Dr. Luis Herrera Tejedor, Director of the Office of Human Resources of the Holy See, Secretariat of the Economy; Dr. Paolo Nusiner, Director of General Affairs of the Dicastery for Communication and Director General of the Catholic University; Dr Stefano Fralleoni, head of the Services and management control sector of APSA; Dr Aldo Fumagalli, President of Beldofin srl and CEO of Albe Finanziaria; Dr. Giacomo Ghisani, Director of the Secretariat for Participations, General and Legal Affairs of the Diocese of Cremona; and Dr. Mimmo Muolo, Vatican journalist and deputy editor of the Avvenire newspaper.
Three new areas of work
“The richness of the contribution of the laity,” explains Bishop Amarante, “is enormous because they come from essential fields such as academia, management, journalism and communication in general. These are people who can provide strong support for PUL’s mission.
The Council’s work will focus on three areas: developing a “strategic business plan” that takes into account PUL’s specific mission; identify communication strategies to promote and disseminate the university’s mission; and plan fundraising strategies with a three-year plan to identify potential donors and contributors in Italy and abroad.
“From the Holy Father’s point of view,” explains Archbishop Amarante, “the pontifical universities must be places of research and study but also places of cultural meeting, dialogue and construction. Today the main instrument of dialogue is the field of culture, a culture in which the Church still has a voice. »
On Wednesday, November 13, Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, Prefect of the Dicastery for Culture and Education, will inaugurate the academic year of the Lateran University, and the actor Giacomo Poretti will perform a monologue entitled ‘Per far un’ anima” (“To Make a Soul). This choice, explains the Rector, was made “because he is someone who, ironically, can address a large audience, which we may not reach. Today, without soul, it is impossible to build a new university. Today, without people who believe in a project in which they invest their soul, it is truly impossible to create or build something new. »
Lateran University
The Pontifical Lateran University was established in 1773 and trains clergy, religious and laity called to serve contemporary society in the light of the Gospel. Over the years, the university’s educational services have expanded and now include the Faculties of Theology and Philosophy, the Institutum Utriusque Iuris, the Faculties of Canon Law and Civil Law, the Pastoral Institute Redemptor Hominis, as well as as a program in Peace and International Sciences. Cooperation, and a program in Ecology and Environment – Taking care of our common home and protecting creation. For the 2023-2024 academic year, the teaching staff is made up of 139 professors, with 1,137 students. Most students come from Europe (657), followed by Africa (180), Asia (169) and the Americas (130). The student body is made up of lay people (421), clergy (347), religious (290) and seminarians (79).
