PONTIFICAL ORIENTAL INSTITUTE

MEDIA KIT Established 1917 The pontifical institute was established in 1917 by Benedict XV.

The Jesuits 1922 Pope Pius XI entrusted the Institute to the .

Rerum Orientalium 1928 were encouraged to send students to the Institute to be formed as future professors in Oriental studies. Post grad 350 students

In a typical year, the Oriental Institute has between 300 and 400 students, both lay and religious, from more than 40 countries. It attracts students not only from the Eastern Churches, but also from the Roman From Catholic and Protestant Churches, as well as non­ Christians. 48 countries The Pontifical Oriental Institute or “Orientale” is the premier center for the study of Eastern Christianity in , Italy. The pontifical institute 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 Orienta- lium” 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 Eccle- siastical Studies. The Faculty of Oriental Canon Law had a crucial role in the produc- tion of Code of Canon Law for the Oriental Churches. The Institute has been located across from the Basilica of since 1926. It is separated from the Collegium Russicum by the Church of Saint Antony. According to article 16 of the , signed in 1929 between Italy and the , 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.

Since 1993, the Grand Chancellor of the Oriental Institute has been the Cardinal Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches, in 2016 it was Cardinal (left), while the was Fr. David Nazar, S.J. (right). First President Institutional Focus

• The Pontifical Oriental Institute offers Licentiate and Doctoral degrees in Eastern Canon Law, Eastern Ecclesiastical Studies and a Propaedeutic year of formation for Seminarians.

• For Rome to have an Institute for the promotion of Eastern Studies—placed under the special supervision and care of the Supreme Pontiff—is thus awarded the title of “Pontifical”

• The Institute will be directly aligned to the Sacred Congregation for the Eastern Church

The first president of the Institute was • The Institute will have its own distinct office in ­Alfredo Ildefonso Schuster, Abbot of the Vatican St. Paul and the Archbishop of Milan. With “the grand design to build a bridge between • The Institute will teach the following subjects: a) the East and the West”, Schuster expressed Orthodox Theology encompassing various Christian that, “the Pontifical Oriental Institute had Doctrine, with Eastern Patrology courses, and Histor- to be an academy dedicated exclusively to ical Theology b) Canon law of all Christian peoples of the study of various theological subjects the East c) Eastern Liturgy d) History, both sacred and cultivated in the East” (Benedict XV on The civil, of Byzantium and the rest of the East; will conjoin Union of Churches Conference held at the Geography courses, Sacred Archaeology, and Civil Catholic University in 1940). Constitutions e) Literature and Oriental languages. The Library

184K volumes

2,000 volumes/year

2,600 periodicals The General Collection contains 184.000 volumes making the library of the Pontifical Oriental Institute the best gen- eral collection in the world on Eastern Christianity. Nowhere else in the world can one find together in the same library nearly everything an orientalist scholar could need to research any aspect of Eastern Christendom.

The collection of liturgical books on Eastern Christian traditions Unique to the general collection is its rich selection of the liturgical books, Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic, in the main Eastern Christian liturgical languages (Greek, Slavonic, Romanian, Arabic, Syriac, Armenian, Coptic, Ge‘ez (Ethiopic), Malayalam, as well as in translations of the modern vernacular tongues into which many of the Eastern rites are gradually moving.This collection has been instrumental in facilitating the institute’s scholarly work and more discretely their work for the Holy See as consultors of the Vatican Congregation for the Oriental Churches.

The East European Collection (Russian, Ukrainian) Prior to the collapse of the , the Library was regularly visited by Soviet and other East-Bloc scholars to read the Russian, Ukrainian, and other Slavic and Slavonic sources that were difficult to access under the Communist regime. Especially rich are the PIO Library holdings on the two most important lands of Slavic Eastern Christianity, Ukraine and , the historic “Kievan Rus’,” heartland and cradle of Slavia Orthodoxa.

Current Periodicals 2,600 periodicals including 500 current ones still being pub- lished—represent a rich collection of scholarly journals from every corner of the world and every Eastern Church. These current periodicals are an essential tool for maintaining knowledge of the current situation of those Churches and their present life, with its problems and interests. Pre-Soviet Russian Theological Periodicals Pre-SovietAmong the Russian no-longer Theological current journals Periodicals: is the collectionAmong the ofno-longer pre-revolutionary current journals Russian-Ortho is the - collectiondox theological of pre-revolutionary scholarly periodicals, Russian-Orthodox miscellaneous theological Russian Orthodox scholarly religiousperiodicals, journals, mis- and cellaneousofficial RussianRussian ImperialOrthodox government religious journals,publications and officialconcerning Russianrelated issuesImperial like government public educa - publicationstion. In pre-Soviet concerning times relatedthe Russian issues Church like public had education.an extraordinarily In pre-Soviet vital academic times the theological Russian Churchculture of had the an highest extraordinarily scholarly vitallevel, academic and their theological publications culture are a goldmineof the highest for anyonescholarly doing level, andresearch their on publications the history are of Orthodoxya goldmine andfor anyoneits scholarship. doing research on the history of Orthodoxy and its scholarship. Pre-Soviet Russian collection on Russian Orthodox Monasteries Pre-SovietMuch smaller, Russian and collectionless well-known, on Russian is the Orthodox collection Monasteries: of pre-Soviet Much booklets smaller, in Russian and less on well- known,Russian isOrthodox the collection monasteries. of pre-Soviet booklets in Russian on Russian Orthodox monasteries.

Slavonic Manuscripts Manuscripts Collection: Collection The PIO Library collection is the second largest Slavonic manuscriptThe PIO Library collection collection in Italy is afterthe secondthe Bibliotheca largest Slavonic Apostolica manuscript Vaticana. collection These manuscripts,in Italy after datingthe Bibliotheca from the Apostolica16th c. on, Vaticana. are largely These Orthodox manuscripts, liturgical dating books from in Church the 16th Slavonic, c. on, are the large - historicly Orthodox traditional liturgical liturgical books languagein Church of Slavonic, the Slavic the Churches. historic traditional liturgical language of the Slavic Churches. Rare Manuscripts and Imprints: Of perhaps even greater importance are rare early imprints, includingRare Manuscripts early imprint holdings and Imprintsin Slavonic, an astounding collection of 113 volumes dating fromOf perhaps 1491 toeven 1596. greater These importance holdings arecomprise rare early some imprints, of the includingmost important early imprintSlavonic holdingsbooks everin Slavonic, printed. an A astoundingnotable book collection within the of 113collection volumes of raredating sources from is1491 Trebnik to 1596. (Book These of Needs) ofholdings St. Peter comprise Moghila, some published of the mostin Kiev important in 1646 Slavonic(66), is one books of theever most printed. historically A notable important book liturgicalwithin the books collection for the of study rare sources of the Byzantineis Trebnik Slavonic(Book of rite Needs) in the of turbulentSt. Peter Moghila,17th c. pub- lished in Kiev in 1646 (66), is one of the most historically important liturgical books for the study of the Byzantine Slavonic rite in the turbulent 17th c. The Orientale hosts the only Catholic faculty of Oriental Canon Law in the world.

This faculty of Oriental Canon Law played a significant role in the production of the Code of Canon Law for the Oriental Churches. Studies in the faculty also deal with the historical development of canons, the theology and practice of canon law, as well as the particular canons of specific churches.