Faculty of Eastern Church Studies

Approximately two-thirds of the students at the Oriental Institute study in the Faculty of Eastern Church Studies. The departments of the faculty are 1) theology and patristics, 2) liturgy, and 3) history. Having completed a first degree in theology at another institution, students are admitted to the program for the licentiate degree (S.E.O.L.). Those who successfully complete the licentiate may go on to pursue a doctorate (S.E.O.D.).

Faculty of Eastern Canon Law

Roughly a third of the students study in the canon law faculty, the only Catholic faculty of Eastern Canon Law in the world. A major focus of work in this faculty is the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, the canonical code for all Eastern Catholic churches. Studies also deal with the historical development of canons, the theology and practice of canon law, as well as the particular canons of specific churches. As in the other faculty, students pursue licentiate (I.C.O.L.) and doctorate degrees (I.C.O.D.).

Students

In a typical year, the Oriental has between 300 and 400 students. They often come from forty or more different countries, two of the largest groups coming from Ukraine and from Kerala state in southern India. Some students are seminarians, deacons, priests, or members of religious communities. Others are lay people who intend to work for and with their churches after their studies.

THE PONTIFICAL ORIENTAL INSTITUTE

Pope Benedict XV founded the Institute in 1917 to be a center dedicated to advanced studies on Eastern Christianity. The mission of the Oriental Institute is to study, explain, and make better known the life and tradition of these churches.

The Eastern Churches

Christianity was born in the Holy Land. From the first centuries of Christianity on, the churches developed in distinctive Eastern and Western forms. In the Eastern half of the Roman Empire and beyond its Eastern borders, there appeared successively: 1) the Assyrian Church of the East, 2) the Oriental Orthodox (Pre-Chalcedonian) Churches, and 3) the Eastern (Byzantine) Orthodox Churches, and finally 4) the Eastern Catholic Churches. All these churches grew - and are still present in - the Near East, Eastern Europe, Egypt, Ethiopia, Eritrea and southern India. From those historic homelands, Eastern churches have spread throughout the world. The Pontifical Oriental Institute studies all these churches

At the Service of the Eastern Churches

In its history over 6,000 students have studied at the Oriental Institute and over 500 have completed doctorates.Students come from all the Eastern churches, but also include Roman Catholics, Protestants, and non-Christians. Scholars representing the many churches studied and of other backgrounds come to the Oriental Institute to do research. Many former students go on to teach in seminaries and universities in their home countries. A number of Oriental Institute alumni serve as bishops both in Orthodox and Catholic churches. The Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, is one of the Institute's best known alumni. The Oriental Institute is a papal foundation under the direct jurisdiction of the Holy See. It is administered by the Jesuits (the Society of Jesus) and belongs to the consortium of Jesuit academic institutions in Rome: the Pontifical Oriental Institute, the pontifical Gregorian University, and the Pontifical Biblical Institute.

Publications

The Pontifical Oriental Institute has for many years published two major periodicals. ORIENTALIA CHRISTIANA ANALECTA is a series of monographs, book-length works by experts on Eastern Christianity. Articles and book reviews appear in ORIENTALIA CHRISTIANA PERIODICA. Recently two new monograph series were inaugurated: KANONIKA for works on topics of canon law, and ANAPHORAE ORIENTALES for the eucharistic prayers of the Christian East. In addition, other single works are published by EDIZIONI ORIENTALIA CHRISTIANA, the institute's editorial facility.

Conferences

The Oriental Institute is often host to international meetings on important topics discussed by scholars from around the world. Past conferences have dealt, for instance, with the Armenian Church, the work of liturgist Anton Baumstark, and the diplomatic relations between the Vatican and Eastern European nations.

The Library

The collection housed in the library of the Pontifical Oriental Institute constitutes one of the world's most extensive collections on Eastern Christianity. Scholars from around the world come to do research there. It includes approximately 180,000 volumes.