Attention to the integral formation of the human person

The new configuration of the Pontifical Gregorian University provides for the organization of its action in accordance with three missions, each with its own historically meaningful mandate and ample prospects for the future. The Collegium Maximum represents the academic units and institutes erected at the “Gregoriana”, whose foundation stems from the Roman College educational institution. The name was chosen with reference to the history of the Society of Jesus, when each province had its own “Collegium Maximum”, which included the philosophical and theological departments and served as a veritable cultural hub. The adjective “maximum” evokes the Ignatian notion of “magis”, a central element of Jesuit pedagogy.

Pino Di Luccio is the president of the new Collegium Maximum. “I have spent most of my life as a Jesuit priest in the Middle East, mainly in Jerusalem,” he says. “I received my doctorate from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and then taught there as a visiting professor.” Fr. Di Luccio has held professorships at the Pontifical Biblical Institute and at the Pontifical Theological Faculty of Southern Italy, and he recalls with particular fondness his links with Albania. In fact, during the merciless persecution of Enver Hoxha, contacts with the Jesuits in Albania were completely lost, to the point that they were referred to as “Albaniensis Missio Dispersa”. When the regime fell, Fr. Di Luccio was among the first group of Jesuits who managed to reunite with some confreres who had survived by hiding with some Albanian families. They founded a community in Tirana, a seminary in Shkodra and began pastoral work in the capital’s parish, thus re-establishing the presence of the Society of Jesus in Albania. Today, he faces a new challenge as President of the Collegium Maximum.

Fast, fragmented communication dominated by the logic of individual visibility has become the norm. “High culture” is associated with times gone by. How important is the promotion of solid academic training in the Church?

“Indeed, social media has radically changed the way in which we communicate. This is also reflected in the complexity of our “digital” lives, with both positive and negative implications for learning and training. The digital world dominates our lives, but it cannot replace our capacity for discernment, nor the need for a solid, modern education. It is in this context that the traditio fidei, which we have been offering in our University for the last five centuries, takes on a crucial role: it is the process by which God’s salvific Word makes itself continually present in time.”

What is the meaning of Jesuit education today?

“Our review, Ignaziana, is intended to provide a comprehensive answer to this question. The articles, essays and reflections published in this journal every six months, together with the initiatives organized every year, are intended to give teachers and students of the Collegium Maximum of the Gregorian University an insight into what it means to study and teach in a Jesuit university.

More generally, Ignatian pedagogy seeks the harmonious development of all dimensions of the person: intellectual, spiritual, emotional and practical. Its aim is the integral development of the human person, extending beyond the mere transmission of knowledge. This pedagogical approach promotes students’ self-discovery. It is a form of education that places the students at the centre, making them the protagonists of their own educational development This has always characterized Jesuit education and remains an aspect of outstanding modernity.”

Where does modern Jesuit pedagogy stand regarding artificial intelligence?

“Clearly, technological progress and educational software for academic research can hardly be overlooked. Therefore, today’s method of Jesuit education requires the integration of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) technologies into academic learning. This requires a thorough knowledge of the tools and limits provided by generative AI technologies. These tools, when used in keeping with the principles of scientific and academic correctness, should not be seen as a threat to the teaching-learning process, but rather as a resource and a means of support for both the teacher and the student.”

With more than half of all students, the Faculty of Theology is the most prominent academic unit of the Collegium Maximum. Can it be considered its “heart”?

“The Faculty of Theology of the Collegium Maximum, where science and faith are in constant dialogue, has recently been enlarged. In the Ignatian pedagogical model of academic learning, theology is central to studying all the other disciplines. At the centre is the true heart, which is the Bible. The Faculty of Theology plays an important role both in the formation of future religious leaders and in deepening the faith in response to contemporary challenges, and, as mentioned above, in the study and topicalization of Tradition (in the study and in-depth study of sacred texts). It is also because of this response that the Faculty of Missiology and the Institute of Spirituality have been merged, ad experimentum, with the Faculty of Theology [see “Information”, p. 52].”

Philosophy, Canon Law, History and Cultural Heritage of the Church, Social Sciences, Psychology, Anthropology, Interreligious Studies, Formation to the Priesthood: these are some of the other academic units. In the new university structure, how can these academic units be mutually motivational in terms of research?

“Interdisciplinarity and working together create a fertile environment for research. In our university, academic units can be mutually inspiring and enriching as they pursue the common goal of offering academic training to persons from many and diverse cultures. On 25 February 2023, Pope Francis received in audience the rectors, professors, students and staff of the Pontifical Universities and Institutes in Rome, urging them to ‘find new ways of working together.’ Our academic units are called to follow this direction.”