On Sunday 29 May, after the recitation of the Regina Coeli in St. Peter's Square, the Holy Father Francis announced a Consistory for the creation of 21 new Cardinals for 27 August next, of whom nine will be alumni of the Gregorian University. Also joining the members of the College of Cardinals on this solemn occasion will be Fr Gianfranco Ghirlanda S.J., Emeritus Professor of the Faculty of Canon Law and former Rector of the Pontifical Gregorian University.
"On behalf of the entire University, I wish Fr. Gianfranco Ghirlanda all the best," writes Rector Nuno da Silva Gonçalves S.J. "The cardinalate to which Pope Francis is calling him is recognition of the competence and generosity with which he has served and serves the Church: in the research, teaching and assiduous collaboration with the Popes and the Roman Curia. The trust that the various Popes have shown in him is particularly evident in his appointment as a member and consultant of many Dicasteries, as well as in the delicate missions entrusted to him in recent years".
(Lectio magistralis by Fr Gianfranco Ghirlanda S.J.
on the occasion of his 43rd year of teaching)
Fr. Gianfranco Ghirlanda S.J. was born in Rome on 5 July 1942. He obtained his Doctorate in Law at the University of Rome 'La Sapienza' in 1966. In the same year he entered the Society of Jesus and completed his Theology studies at the Pontifical Gregorian University. He was ordained a priest in 1973. He later obtained a degree and doctorate in Canon Law at the same University. Since 1975 he has taught Canon Law at the Institute of Religious Studies, the Faculty of Theology and the Faculty of Canon Law at the Pontifical Gregorian University where he became a full professor. Dean of the Faculty of Canon Law (1995-2004), he was also Rector of the Pontifical Gregorian University (2004-2010).
Fr. Ghirlanda has served the Holy See as consultant to various Congregations and Councils: the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life; of the Congregation for the Clergy; of the Pontifical Council for the Interpretation of Legislative Texts; of the Pontifical Council for the Laity; of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples; of the Congregation for Bishops; of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith; member of the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life; prelate and lawyer at the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura; judge at the Court of Appeal of the Vatican City State. He has also collaborated in the drafting of several Apostolic Constitutions. He has published several books and over 110 articles specialising mainly in Canon Law. He received his doctorate Honoris Causa from the Faculty of Canon Law at the Pontifical University of Salamanca.
Read the interview with Fr. Ghirlanda in the Italian newspaper Avvenire.
(Fr. Nuno da Silva Gonçalves S.J. consigns the medal of St. Robert Bellarmine
to Fr Gianfranco Ghirlanda S.J. on the occasion of his Emeritate)
(Fr. Ghirlanda's creation as a cardinal at the Consistory of 27 August 2022)