Pontificio Istituto Biblico, Roma

The Pontifical Biblical Institute (P.B.I.) is a university-level institution of the Holy See. It was established by Pope Pius X with the Apostolic Letter Vinea electa of May 7, 1909, in order to be "a center of higher studies for Sacred Scripture in the city of Rome and of all related studies according to the spirit of the Catholic Church". From its foundation the Institute was entrusted to the Society of Jesus, and Father L. Fonck was the one who served as organizer and first rector. At the beginning the P.B.I. prepared its students to take the examinations of the Pontifical Biblical Commission. With the Apostolic Letter Cum Biblia sacra (August 15, 1916) Benedict XV authorized the Institute to grant the academic degree of Licence in the name of the Biblical Commission. The Motu Proprio Quod maxime (September 9, 1930) of Pius XI gave the Institute academic independence from the Pontifical Biblical Commission and permitted it to grant the degree of Doctorate. With this same document the P.B.I. was officially associated with the Pontifical Gregorian University and with the Pontifical Oriental Institute. These three institutions have the same Vice-Grand Chancellor (the General Superior of the Society of Jesus), but each has its own proper statutes. Further, the P.B.I., having been founded by Pope Pius X, enjoys its own autonomy and is immediately dependent on the Holy See. The Grand Chancellor of the Institute is the Prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education.