Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - Professor Vincenzo Buonomo, Counsellor of Vatican City State and Rector Emeritus of the Pontifical Lateran University, has been appointed Pontifical Delegate to the Pontifical Urbaniana University.
The Decree of appointment, signed by Pope Francis, is dated today, Thursday, September 14, Solemnity of the Holy Cross, released by the Press Office of the Holy See. In the Decree, Pope Francis refers to the "need to adapt the service and function of the Pontifical Urbanian University, called to contribute to the missionary action of the Church, which needs to grow in the interpretation of the revealed Word and in the understanding of the truth, also through academic, cultural and scientific activity, in order to train those who are called upon to cooperate in the proclamation of the Gospel, in the advancement of the life of faith and in governance in the territories of first evangelization (cf. Apostolic Constitution Praedicate Evangelium, Art. 61-63).
The Pontiff also refers to the urgency of "revising the structure of the University and conforming it to the Apostolic Constitution Veritatis Gaudium, the Statutes and other regulatory provisions that govern the life of the Faculties and Institutes, as well as providing for the adaptation of the administrative organization to the norms in force for the Entities of the Holy See". Pope Francis also confers Prof. Vincenzo Buonomo "the authority and powers of Rector Magnificus, so that he may take whatever steps are necessary to ensure that the Pontifical Urbanian University guarantees a qualified contribution to theological research and in other disciplines, an ever more fruitful formation of the new generations and authoritative teaching capable of providing answers to the Church and the contemporary world". The Papal Delegate - we read in the Decree of appointment - "will exercise his mandate in agreement with the Grand Chancellor and the Superiors of the Section for First Evangelization and the New Particular Churches of the Dicastery for Evangelization, reporting directly to me for matters of greater importance.
He will also facilitate the necessary inclusion of the Pontifical Urbanian University in the process, initiated by me and coordinated by the Dicastery for Culture and Education, aimed at reorganizing the Roman Pontifical Academic Institutions that are directly administered by the Apostolic See".
Vincenzo Buonomo was born in 1961, in Gaeta, in the province of Latina. He specialized in Internation Law and received his doctorate in Utroque Iure from the Pontifical Lateran University and a Diploma in Preparation for a Diplomatic Career.
Professor Buonomo began his teaching career in 1984 at the Faculty of Civil Law of the Pontifical University where in 2001 he was appointed full professor.
In 2007 Buonomo also held the position of head of office at the Representation of the Holy See at the United Nations Organizations and Bodies for Food and Agriculture (FAO, IFAD, WFP), with which he began collaborating in 1983. On June, 2, 2018 Pope Francis appointed prof. Buonomo Rector of the Pontifical Lateran University, a position he held until last August 1st, when the Pontiff appointed him Counsellor of Vatican City State.
Professor Buonomo will assume the role of Pontifical Delegate at the Pontifical Urbaniana University on October 1, 2023. (AP) (Agenzia Fides, 14/9/2023)