The Department of Patristic Theology and Tradition of Fathers of Pontifical Gregorian University has been offering, for some years now, a licensing path and a third cycle of doctorates, committed to focusing attention on the importance of the challenge taken up by the believers of the first centuries, which saw the nascent Christianity involved in the lively debate destined to bring out the meaning of Revelation in the confrontation with the Mediterranean civilizations of the time. It was a question of making the biblical message comprehensible and communicable within the horizon of the various expressions of Greek, Roman and Eastern culture ("Hellenism"): philosophy, historiography, law, literature, philology, religion, art, etc.. In fact, the Theology of the Fathers, as the first and decisive "cultural laboratory" (Veritatis gaudium, 3) of the believing experience, has constituted a fundamental point of reference for the development of the Christian identity, as well as for theological reflection of subsequent epochs.

Every theology is always looking for a critical confrontation with the cultural expressions emerging in the spaces and eras in which it has its roots, in view of the maturation of a more conscious intellectus fidei and the offer of a contribution intended to promote people, human communities, the integrity of creation: the Patristic era has built the foundations of this Tradition, thanks to which theological thought has been able to develop, through the centuries, profiles to continue the initial project of deepening the understanding of Scripture through a constant interdisciplinary dialogue.

Enriched by the presence of the other departments of the Faculty of Theology of the Pontifical Gregorian University, especially the Department of Dogmatics, as well as the Pontifical Oriental Institute and the Faculty of History and Cultural Heritage, the license specialized in Patristic Theology focuses on the reading of original texts, written by the Fathers themselves or their interpreters in later periods, accepting, in the spirit of Vatican II, the principle of ressourcement.

Not only to those who may be engaged in the teaching of Patrology, but also to all those who feel called to deepen the very meaning of the development of theology from the basic experience of the reflection of the first centuries, the Department of Patristic intends to offer useful tools for the maturation of an ars interpretandi capable of a true deepening of Christian sources.