Prof. Lino Bianco led interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary research seminars at the Faculty of Theology, Pontifical Gregorian University

The interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary approaches to Catholic Theology is a criterion advocated by Pope Francis Apostolic Constitution Veritatis Gaudium to renew ecclesiastical studies in line with the teaching of the Catholic Church.

Professor Lino Bianco from the Department of History of Architecture within the Faculty for the Built Environment was invited and led research seminars at the Faculty of Theology, considered as a top institution for theological studies, within the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome.

The seminars, convened during the third week of January 2026, were held with international students reading moral theology at the Department of Moral Theology and Spiritual Theology within the Faculty of Theology. At undergraduate level, the focus was on methodologies for inter- and transdisciplinary critical research. For doctoral students, the seminar-style sessions were offered through the Schola Doctoralis.

The Department of Moral Theology and Spiritual Theology was recently set up following the integration of the former Institute of Spirituality as part of the Faculty of Theology. The department provides programmes in both areas of theological study which, although kept distinct, overlap; its objective is to explore and encourage cross disciplinary dialogue.

Besides reading architecture and civil engineering (University of Malta), geology (University of Leicester), architectural history (University College London) and architecture and politics (University of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy, Sofia), Professor Bianco is a graduate in philosophy and human studies from the former Institute of Philosophy and Humanistic Studies which formed part of the Faculty of Theology when the latter was suppressed in 1978. He is a reviewer to several international peer-reviewed journals including the Journal of Housing and the Built Environment, GeoJournal and Heritage Science – published by Springer – Landscape and Urban Planning and Frontiers of Architectural Research – Elsevier – and others such as Space and Culture, Materials and Minerals. Professor Bianco is also a member of the editorial boards of several journals including Open House International, Heritage and Sustainable Development and European Journal of Science and Theology. Interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary publications overlapping with theology which he penned covered the domains not only of art and architectural history, urban design and planning, and environmental science but also philosophy and history of science, diplomacy and politics.