Pontifical Oriental Institute

The Pontifical Oriental Institute ("Pontificium Institutum Orientalium" in Latin, "Pontificio Instituto Orientale" in Italian) is the premier center for the study of Eastern Christianity in Rome, Italy.

The Pontifical Oriental Institute, across the street from the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome.

The pontifical school was established in 1917 by Pope Benedict XV. Pope Pius XI entrusted the Institute to the Society of Jesus in 1922, and with the 1928 encyclical "Rerum Orientalium", encouraged bishops to send students to the Institute to be formed as future professors in Oriental studies. In that same year, Pius XI associated the Institute with the Pontifical Gregorian University and the Pontifical Biblical Institute, thus forming the Gregorian Consortium.

In 1971, the Faculty of Oriental Canon Law was erected alongside the already existing Faculty of Oriental Ecclesiastical Studies. The Faculty of Oriental Canon Law had a crucial role in the production of Code of Canon Law for the Oriental Churches.

Since 1993, the Grand Chancellor of the Oriental Institute has been the Cardinal Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches. The current Chancellor is Cardinal Leonardo Sandri. The current Pro-Rector of the Institute is the Reverend Father Samir Khalil Samir, S.J.

The Institute maintains an important library of Christian oriental literature. One special holding is a rare collection of Old Slavonic manuscripts.

The Institute has been located across from the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore since 1926. It is separated from the Collegium Russicum by the Church of Saint Antony.

According to article 16 of the Lateran Treaty, signed in 1929 between Italy and the Holy See, the property of the Oriental Institute enjoys a certain level of extraterritoriality, with the Holy See having all rights over the infrastructure without interference from the Italian State, and free from all Italian taxation.

The Institute is a member of the Gregorian Consortium.

In spoken language, the school is sometimes simply referred to as "The Orientale".

See also

• Michel d'Herbigny
• George Nedungatt
• John D. Faris
• Dimitri Salachas
• Robert F. Taft
• Cyril Vasiľ
• Ivan Žužek

External links

• The Pontifical Oriental Institute homepage
• Profile at GCatholic.org

Pontifical institutions of higher education in Rome Universities University Antonianum Gregorian University Lateran University Salesian University University of the Holy Cross University of St. Thomas Aquinas Urban University Academies Arcadia Alphonsian Academy Fine Arts and Letters of the Virtuosi al Pantheon Sciences Theology Archaeology Martyrs St. Thomas Aquinas Immaculate Conception Mary Life Social Sciences Latin Other Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum Pontificio Ateneo Sant Anselmo Pontifical Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies Pontifical Biblical Institute The Pontifical Colleges Institute of the Theology of the Consecrated Life Claretianum Pontifical Theological Faculty Marianum Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family Pontifical Oriental Institute Pastorale Universitaria Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music Pontifical Theological Faculty Teresianum Patristic Institute Augustinianum

Coordinates: 41°53′50″N 12°29′59″E / 41.89722°N 12.49972°E / 41.89722; 12.49972