A new Coordination Council for the Lateran University

By Benedetta Capelli

“A Council that would take even more control of the university’s future, providing a political and administrative direction.” This is the task entrusted by Pope Francis, as explained to Vatican media by Monsignor Alfonso Amarante, Rector of the Pontifical Lateran University. A statement released on November 9, presented the new Higher Coordination Council of the Pontifical Lateran University, an entity envisioned in the University’s Statutes, with a new regulation approved by Pope Francis and effective from March 1, 2024. This change is aimed at streamlining its organization while maintaining continuity with the past, and looking toward the future with a very clear action plan.

A new makeup

The Council’s tasks, which it will hold for a five-year term, include guiding and overseeing the activities, programming, and planning of  the Pontifical Lateran University (PUL) from an academic, scientific, and educational perspective, as well as managing its administrative, economic, and financial aspects. These activities are organized through guidelines and procedures for planning and managing human, financial, and material resources.

The Council consists of the Rector, Monsignor Alfonso V. Amarante, Vice-Rector Monsignor Riccardo Ferri, Managing Director Dr. Sabrina Di Maio, and the University’s Secretary General Dr. Immacolata Incocciati. Other members include Monsignor Roberto Campisi, Advisor for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State; Dr. Luis Herrera Tejedor, Director of the Human Resources Office of the Holy See, Secretariat for the Economy; Dr. Paolo Nusiner, Director of General Affairs of the Dicastery for Communication and General Manager of the Catholic University; Dr. Stefano Fralleoni, Head of APSA’s Services and Management Control Area; Dr. Aldo Fumagalli, President of Beldofin s.r.l. and CEO of Albe Finanziaria; Dr. Giacomo Ghisani, Director of the Secretariat for Participations, General and Legal Affairs of the Diocese of Cremona; and Dr. Mimmo Muolo, Vatican journalist and deputy editor of the newspaper Avvenire.

Three new areas to work on

“The richness of lay people's contribution,” explains Monsignor Amarante, “is enormous because they come from essential areas such as academia, management, journalism, and communication in general. They are people who can offer strong support to PUL’s mission.”

The Council’s work will focus on three areas: developing an "strategic business plan” that considers PUL’s specific mission; identifying communication strategies to promote and spread the university’s mission; and planning fundraising strategies with a three-year plan to identify potential donors and contributors in Italy and abroad.

“From the Holy Father’s perspective,” explains Monsignor Amarante, “pontifical universities must be places of research and study but also places of cultural encounter, dialogue, and construction. Today, the prime medium for dialogue is the field of culture, a culture in which the Church still has a voice.”

On Wednesday, November 13, Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, Prefect of the Dicastery for Culture and Education, will inaugurate the academic year of the Lateran University, and actor Giacomo Poretti will perform a monologue titled “Per far un’anima” (“To Make a Soul) . The choice, explains the Rector, was made “because he is someone who, ironically , can speak to a large audience, one that we might not reach. Today, without a soul, it is impossible to build a new university. Today, without people who believe in a project they invest their soul in, it is really impossible to create or build something new.”

The Lateran University

The Pontifical Lateran University was established in 1773, forming clergy, religious, and laity who are called to serve in contemporary society with the light of the Gospel. Over the years, the university’s educational services have expanded and now include the Faculties of Theology and Philosophy, the Institutum Utriusque Iuris, the Faculties of Canon Law and Civil Law, the Redemptor Hominis Pastoral Institute, as well as a programme in Peace Sciences and International Cooperation, and a programme in Ecology and Environment - Care for Our Common Home and the Protection of Creation. In the academic year 2023-2024, the teaching staff consists of 139 professors, with 1,137 students. Most students come from Europe (657), followed by Africa (180), Asia (169), and the Americas (130). The student body is made up of laity (421), clergy (347), religious (290), and seminarians (79).