The Department of Fundamental Theology has deep roots in the way of doing theology that characterized the Gregorian University as a whole. Following the footsteps of the Roman School Tradition (which had at its core the attention to the themes of Revelation and its credibility), today, it is open to the new challenges of the universal Church in a world that has increasingly become a “global village”: it is rooted in Tradition in order to decipher the present and prepare for the future.
Using the unique skills of the faculty (lecturers and visiting professors), our Department offers courses and seminars for two educational paths: Licentiate (II cycle) and Doctorate (III cycle) in Fundamental Theology.

Fundamental Theology

We could say that many questions that cause anxiety to people today are mainly of a fundamental theological nature. This discipline was born around the time of the Second Vatican Council, after a deep identity crisis in the ancient practice of Apologetics. With the words of Pope Francis: «it is an encounter between faith, reason and the sciences with a view to developing new approaches and arguments on the issue of credibility, a creative apologetics which would encourage greater openness to the Gospel on the part of all» (EG 132)

The Department of Fundamental Theology (founded in 1922) has a long and very rich tradition at the Pontifical Gregorian University, a precious heritage -nomen est omen! – that we want to carry on with updated responsibility. The so-called Gregorian School – a tradition started by the Italian Jesuit Giovanni Perrone (1794-1876), then a professor at the Roman Collage – has always influenced the formulation of the Church’s doctrine (even at the magisterial level) during its long history. Even in years closer to us, this task was carried out by world-renowned professors such as Fr. Latourelle, Msgr. Fisichella (Dizionario di Teologia Fondamentale, 1990), Fr. Wicks, Fr. O’Collins, Rev. Pié-Ninot, and so on.

Thanks to the unique richness and internationality of our faculty and students, today the new role of the Department is rather the effort to legitimately integrate the plurality of theological thinking of the global Church that lives, thinks and speaks in different cultures – and to inspire its future protagonists and leaders. And this is certainly not a small feat!