Locus: The Process of Establishing an Entity for Study and Formation in Rome!

Locus Mariologicus: Establishing the Entity for Study Centered on Mary in Rome

To the students of Locus Mariologicus and to all scholars of Mariology: with great joy and gratitude, we would like to share a major step taken by Locus.

We at Locus Mariologicus will share our process of being established as an Entity for Study and Formation in Rome.

We are completing the process of establishing, in compliance with Legislative Decree No. 117/2017, the Civil Code, and the regulations on the matter, the Entity for Study and Formation called “Locus,” which carries out research and experimental development activities in the field of the social sciences and the humanities.

The general-interest purposes of Locus are:

1. To spread the culture of peace and of dialogue among peoples, nations, cultures, and religions.
2. To spread the principles of the protection of man according to an integral development that takes into account civil, cultural, social, religious, and environmental aspects, and therefore the principles of equivalence and of equal social dignity of individuals and of groups.
3. To propose a model of economic and civil development of nations according to the integral development of the person, that is, the valuing of man’s capacities, of his person, of his dignity, and of his work, according to the criteria of the defense and development of the common good.
4. To encourage the local community and its various associations to create the preconditions for collaborating and integrating their models of development, on the basis of the principles of solidarity and subsidiarity.
5. To spread thought concerning the right relationship between man and the environment and, in general, between the reality of creation and the scientific ecological dimension of human action, which must be interpreted according to principles that establish the existing connections between natural ecology, that is, respect for nature, and human and social ecology, which integrates the ecology of nature and has peace as its goal.
6. To spread, study, and develop the themes of Mariological culture, a backbone of shared identities among international communities, which can constitute the reference platform for the design of shared models of coexistence, common protection, and political and social participation.

The activities that Locus may carry out, above all for the benefit of its members, are:

• education, instruction, and vocational training, in accordance with Law No. 53 of March 28, 2003, and subsequent amendments, as well as cultural activities of social interest with an educational purpose (letter D, art. 5 D.Lgs. 117/2017).
• university and postgraduate education (letter g, art. 5 D.Lgs. 117/2017) under agreements with national [Italy] or international universities.
• organization and management of cultural, artistic, or recreational activities of social interest, including publishing activities, and activities for the promotion and dissemination of the culture and practice of volunteering (letter i, art. 5 D.Lgs. 117/2017).
• organization and management of tourism activities of social, cultural, or religious interest (letter k, art. 5 D.Lgs. 117/2017).
• promotion of the culture of legality, of peace among peoples, of nonviolence, and of unarmed defense (letter v, art. 5 D.Lgs. 117/2017).
• promotion and protection of human, civil, social, and political rights (letter w, art. 5 D.Lgs. 117/2017).
• The Entity may also carry out fundraising activities, respecting the principles of truthfulness, transparency, and fairness toward benefactors and the public, in conformity with the provisions contained in art. 7 of D.Lgs. 117/2017.

Thanks to the completion of the constitutive process of Locus, the activities needed to apply for entry in the National Research Registry [Italy], managed by the Ministry of Education, University and Research, have been set in place, in accordance with art. 64, point 1, of DPR No. 382 of July 11, 1980, which enables Locus to access public funding in the area of research and training and identifies the Entity for the purposes provided for in the same DPR No. 382.

To learn more about the theology that inspires Locus Mariologicus, we recommend the encyclical Redemptoris Mater by John Paul II.

Deepen your studies: explore Mariology, Marian Theology, Marian apparitions, and the Postgraduate Program in Mariology.