# Pontifical Biblical Institute

The Pontifical Biblical Institute (also known as Biblicum) is a research and postgraduate teaching institution specialised in biblical and ancient Near Eastern studies located in Rome. Founded in 1909 by Pope Pius X, it is an institution of the Holy See entrusted to the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). Since 1927, the Institute has had a branch in the city of Jerusalem.
Along with the Pontifical Oriental Institute, the Pontifical Biblical Institute was incorporated into the Pontifical Gregorian University under a single rector when the new statutes of the Gregorian took effect on 19 May 2024.

## History

The Pontifical Biblical Institute, along with the Pontifical Biblical Institute Library, was founded by Pope Pius X in the apostolic letter Vinea Electa in 1909 as a centre of advanced studies in Holy Scripture. At first, the Institute prepared students for exams at the Pontifical Biblical Commission. In 1916, it was licensed by Pope Benedict XV to grant academic degrees in the name of the commission. In 1928, it was licensed by Pope Pius XI to grant doctorates in affiliation with the Pontifical Gregorian University, independently of the commission.
A branch was opened in Jerusalem by Alexis Mallon SJ in 1927 and received the mummy of Iret-hor-iru as a gift from Jesuits in Alexandria in 1928.
In 1932, the Oriental Faculty was founded.

## Rectors

All of its rectors have been Jesuit priests. Cardinal Bea is particularly noteworthy for having defended the university against charges of Modernism before the Second Vatican Council.
* Leopold Fonck (1909–1924)
* John J. O'Rourke (1924–1930)
* Augustin Bea (1930–1949)
* Ernest Vogt (1949–1963)
* Roderick A. MacKenzie (1963–1969)
* Carlo Maria Martini (1969–1978)
* Maurice Gilbert (1978–1984)
* Albert Vanhoye (1984–1990)
* Klemens Stock (1990–1996)
* Robert F. O'Toole (1996–2002)
* Stephen Pisano (2002–2008)
* José María Abrego de Lacy (2008–2014)
* Michael Kolarcik (2014–2023)
* Peter Dubovský (since 2023)

## Alumni

Among the prominent alumni of the Biblicum, the following were elevated to the episcopate and/or the cardinalate:
* Cardinal Archbishop Bernardus Johannes Alfrink
* Cardinal Carlos Aguiar Retes
* Cardinal Augustin Bea
* Cardinal Archbishop Giuseppe Betori
* Bishop Luc-André Bouchard
* Archbishop Rogelio Cabrera López
* Cardinal Patriarch Marco Cé
* Archbishop Mark Coleridge
* Cardinal Archbishop Thomas Christopher Collins
* Cardinal Archbishop Luis Concha Córdoba
* Bishop Martin Drennan
* Archbishop Cornelius Fontem Esua
* Cardinal Archbishop Ermenegildo Florit
* Cardinal Prosper Grech
* Cardinal Benno Gut
* Cardinal Archbishop Franz König
* Cardinal Archbishop Giacomo Lercaro
* Cardinal Bishop Achille Liénart
* Bishop Devadass Ambrose Mariadoss
* Cardinal Archbishop Carlo Maria Martini
* Cardinal Jorge María Mejía
* Cardinal Archbishop Albert Gregory Meyer
* Archbishop Michael Neary
* Archbishop Cesare Nosiglia
* Cardinal Archbishop John Onaiyekan
* Archbishop Kieran O'Reilly
* Cardinal Archbishop Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya
* Cardinal Archbishop Fernando Quiroga y Palacios
* Cardinal Archbishop Malcolm Ranjith
* Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi
* Cardinal Archbishop Rubén Salazar Gómez
* Bishop Enrique San Pedro
* Archbishop Pietro Sfair
* Cardinal Archbishop Adrianus Johannes Simonis
* Bishop Richard J. Sklba
* Bishop Jan Bernard Szlaga
* Cardinal Gustavo Testa
* Bishop Donald Walter Trautman
* Cardinal Archbishop Peter Turkson
* Cardinal Albert Vanhoye
* Archbishop John Francis Whealon
* Bishop Alexander M. Zaleski