Fr. Gianfranco Ghirlanda, S. J.

Father Gianfranco Ghirlanda was born on July 5, 1942 in Rome.  In 1966, he received a doctorate in jurisprudence from the university La Sapienza in Rome, with a thesis titled: “The impediment of the vow in thirteenth century theological and juridical doctrine.”  In 1973, he was ordained a priest.  In 1978 Fr. Ghirlanda received a doctorate in Canon Law summa cum laude from the Gregorian University.  He has been a stable professor at the Gregorian since 1986 and served as dean of the Gregorian’s department of Canon Law from 1995 through 2004.  He served as rector of the Gregorian University from 2004 through 2010.

Fr. Ghirlanda is a consultant of a number of dicasteries of the Holy See, including, among others, the CICLSAL, the Pontifical Council for the Laity, the Congregation for Clergy, the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, the Congregation for Bishops, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Celebration of the Sacraments, and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.  In 1994 he participated as an expert in the Synod of Bishops regarding Consecrated Life.  From 1993 through 1995 he served as the director of the academic journal on Canon Law: Periodica de re canonica. From 1993 through 2003 he was a judge in the Court of Appeals in the Vatican City State and since 2000 has been a referendary of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura.

In 2010 Fr. Ghirlanda was named a personal councilor of the Pontifical Delegate to the Legion of Christ.  In 2012, the Pontifical Delegate entrusted him with the governance of the Consecrated Lay Men of Regnum Christi.  In November, 2013, he presided over the General Assembly of the Consecrated Lay Men of Regnum Christi.  In January and February of 2014, he participated in the Extraordinary General Chapter of the Legion of Christ as a vice-president.  On March 19, 2014, Fr. Eduardo Robles Gil named him a named him a consultant of the Central Commission for the Revision of the Statutes of Regnum Christi. On July 3, 2014, the CICLSAL named him Pontifical Advisor to the Legion of Christ and the Regnum Christi Movement.

A complete curriculum vitae for Fr. Gianfranco Ghirlanda, SJ, can be found in Italian on the website of the Gregorian University: http://www.unigre.it/Prof/ghirlanda/upload/CURRIC.GH05.02.09.doc