28 November 2023

On the day of the Feast of the Dedication of the Church of Sant’Anselmo, 11 November, the academic and monastic community celebrated by inviting Monsignor Giovanni Cesare Pagazzi, secretary of the Dicastery for Culture and Education, to preside at the Holy Mass.

Mons. Pagazzi attended the “Maria Santissima Bambina” Master’s Institute in Lodi and, in 1983, began his studies in philosophy and Catholic theology in the Crema and Lodi seminaries. On 23 June 1990 he was ordained a presbyter for the Diocese of Lodi. In 1994 he obtained his license and in 1996 his doctorate in theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University of Rome. His moderator was the Benedictine monk Dr. Elmar Salmann OSB.

Since completing his doctorate, he has held professorships at the Alberoni College of Piacenza; seminaries of Crema and Lodi; Theological Study of Bologna; Institute of Pastoral Liturgy “Santa Giustina” of Padua; Emilia-Romagna; Pontifical Theological Faculty of Sicily; Higher Institute of Religious Sciences of Lodi; Theological Faculty of Northern Italy in Milan; Academy of Fine Arts of Brera; and the Pontifical Salesian University.

He also has been director of Theological Studies of the Seminary of Lodi and the Higher Institute of Religious Sciences “Sant’Agostino”.

Since October 2019 he has been full professor of ecclesiology and family community, research coordinator and member of the presidency team of the Pontifical Theological Institute “John Paul II” for the Sciences of Marriage and Family in Rome.

On 29 October 2021, Pope Francis appointed him consultant to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and, on 26 September 2022, appointed him secretary of the Dicastery for Culture and Education.

Mons. Pagazzi spent time with the Collegio residents and Ateneo students and professors, eating lunch and visiting with them until the afternoon.