Cattolica, the academic year opens with an honorary degree to Cardinal Ravasi

«For his intrinsic value as a scholar, for his long service in ecclesial institutions, which has brought to light his deeply lived adherence to the ideals of Christian humanism and for the constant relationship with the Catholic University in the years of his prefecture at the Biblioteca Ambrosiana, His Eminence Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi appears worthy of being awarded by the Faculty of Letters and Philosophy an honorary Master’s Degree in Sciences of Antiquity». These are the reasons why the Catholic University, on the day of the inauguration of the new academic year, conferred an honorary degree in Ancient Sciences on Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, an Ambrosian by birth, president emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Culture and president of the Pontifical Council for Culture and the Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archaeology. “Man today needs above all to have figures who generate questions and interrogations, who do not leave the person in the void, indifference and superficiality” – said Cardinal Ravasi on the sidelines of the inauguration. The great disease of our time is precisely indifference, superficiality and banality, which borders on vulgarity. “The infosphere in which we are immersed – he added – represents precisely this degeneration with its avenues”, for which “arriving again with the questions they provoke even before giving answers means truly carrying out a work of transformation of the person and of society» Before the ceremony, a Eucharistic celebration was held at the university in Largo Gemelli, in the Basilica of Sant’Ambrogio, presided over by the Archbishop of Milan, Monsignor Mario Delpini. At the inauguration of the academic year, in addition to the rector of the Cattolica, Franco Anelli, the minister of University and Research, Anna Maria Bernini and the mayor of Milan, Giuseppe Sala, took part, among others. Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi was born in Merate (province of Lecco) on 18 October 1942 and is originally from Osnago (Lecco). He was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Milan by Cardinal Giovanni Colombo on 28 June 1966. After completing his biblical studies in Rome, at the Pontifical Gregorian University and at the Pontifical Biblical Institute, he taught Exegesis of the Old Testament in the Theological Faculty of the Northern Italy and in the seminaries of his diocese. In 1989 he was appointed prefect of the Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana, the prestigious Milanese cultural institution founded in 1607 by Cardinal Federico Borromeo. On September 3, 2007, Benedict XVI appointed him titular Archbishop of Villamagna di Proconsolare and at the same time President of the Department of Culture and of the Commissions for the Cultural Heritage of the Church and Sacred Archaeology. On 29 September of the same year, in the Vatican Basilica, he conferred episcopal ordination on him. Benedict XVI also created him Cardinal in the consistory of 20 November 2010. His vast literary production amounts to about one hundred and fifty volumes, mainly concerning biblical and scientific topics, works particularly loved by readers for their ability to interpret sacred texts, for their clarity and literary and poetic finesse. In 2007 the University of Urbino awarded him an honorary degree in anthropology and epistemology of religions. In 2010 he was numbered among the honorary members of the Brera Academy of Fine Arts and awarded the second level honoris causa diploma in Communication and art education. Pope Francis confirmed him as President of the Pontifical Council for Culture on 29 March 2014. On 5 June 2022, with the entry into force of the reform of the Roman Curia Praedicate evangelium, the Pontifical Council for Culture was suppressed and he therefore became its President Emeritus.