Forum for Historical Research since 1888
Located next to St. Peter's Basilica, the Campo Santo Teutonico is the retreat of the Roman Institute of the Görres Society (RIGG), the well-known academic centre for research into the history of the Church and Christian cultural heritage.
Prof. Dr Jutta Dresken-Weiland (Regensburg) will speak on ‘The relief-carved ciborium columns of San Marco in Venice: the largest pictorial cycle of the early Christian period’.
Prof. Dr Johan Ickx, Head of the Historical Archives of the Secretariat of State and Deputy Director of the Roman Institute of the Görres Society, was presented with the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary (Croce di Cavaliere dell’Ordine al Merito Ungherese) by Ambassador Péter Kweck on 26 March.
To mark the 150th anniversary of the Pontifical Priestly College at Campo Santo Teutonico (1876–2026), a commemorative volume edited by Dr Ignacio García Lascurain Bernstorff and Stefan Heid will be published by Herder in September as the 76th The volume will contain over 20 articles spanning approximately 800 pages and will cover both individuals and groups who have shaped the college..
During his journey through Africa, Pope Leo XIV is repeatedly confronted with the Church Father Augustine of Hippo Regius. Augustine was bishop of the coastal and trading city of Hippo Regius, which is now in Algeria and is an archaeological site of ruins.
On 24–25 April, the Catholic Academy in Bavaria, in collaboration with the Hanns Seidel Foundation, is holding a small conference on the topic of women in Rome at the Archdiocese of Munich's ‘Casa Santa Maria’ on Monte Mario.
The 75th volume in the series of supplements to the *Römische Quartalschrift* will be published by Herder in June. It is authored by Richard Pfannmüller and is entitled "Bavaria and the Holy See: Relations during the Reign of King Maximilian II (1848–1864)" (Bayern und der Heilige Stuhl: Die Beziehungen während der Regierungszeit des Königs Maximilian II. (1848–1864)).
Deadline: 12 May
The University of Hagen (Germany) offers a Professorship in the History of the European Pre-Modern Era .
Following the Görres lecture on “Science in the Vatican: The founding of the Görres Society 150 years ago and its Roman Institute”, Gudrun Sailer of Vatican News interviewed the speaker and produced a radio programme entitled “Catholic research thrives on competition”.
The Vittoriano and the Palazzo Venezia (VIVE) are organising joint lectures under the auspices of the UNIONE, focusing on the theme of foreign nations (Spaniards, English, etc.) in Rome. These lectures are recorded and can be viewed on YouTube.
On Wednesday, 1 April, at 7.30 pm, Stefan Heid will give a talk as part of the Dahlem Forum Bernhardinum on the topic: ‘German Catholicism and the Roman Catholic Church – a fascinating and tense relationship’ – a journey through history. Venue: Königin-Luise-Str. 33.
On Thursday, 11 June, from 6 p.m., the Roman Institute of the Görres Society will celebrate its annual summer festival in San Giovanni a Porta Latina (Via di Porta Latina 17). It will begin with Holy Mass in the church, followed by a cheerful picnic in the monastery garden of the Rosminians, directly on the Aurelian city wall. Who wants to participate is kindly asked to contact - for the picknick -
Our large and very successful conference ‘Popes and Paraments’ will be published in full in the near future. In the meantime, a highly readable interview by Christian Hecht has been published (unfortunately subject to a fee). However, Maja Gilewski's conference report on HSozKult is freely accessible.
Deadline: 31 March
The UNIONE INTERNAZIONALE, i.e. the association of historical, archaeological and art history institutes in Rome, of which the RIGG is also a member, is awarding a postdoctoral scholarship (6 x 2,000 euros) for the first time.
Stephan Wahle, a professor of liturgy from Paderborn, Christian Hümpfner and Sebastian Pietsch visited, amongst other places, the Institute, Father Augustinus Sander and Cardinal Kurt Koch in Rome. One reason for the visit was the study published by Herder Verlag, edited by Christian Hümpfner in collaboration with Peter Schallenberg and Stephan Wahle, on “Ecumenical Impulses for a Church with a Future”. The contributions are based on a comparative survey of Catholics, Protestants and members of free churches in Fulda.
On 21 April, the Pontifical Theological Faculty of Sicily “John the Evangelist” in Palermo is organising a study day on Pope Leo XIV’s Apostolic Letter of 11 December 2025 on the benefits of studying Christian archaeology.
Römisches Institut der Görres-Gesellschaft
