CNA: Amid JPII Institute Controversy, Benedict XVI Meets With Recently Dismissed Professor

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Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI met Aug 1 with Msgr Livio Melina of the JPII Institute. Credit: Courtesy photo (Use restricted to CNA))

Catholic News Agency, Aug. 5, 2019

– Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI met last week with a recently dismissed professor of moral theology at Rome’s Pontifical John Paul II Institute, amid ongoing controversy regarding recent changes to the Institute.

Benedict XVI invited Monsignor Livio Melina to meet with him in on Aug. 1, a source close to Melina told CNA.

The pope emeritus “wanted to receive Prof. Mons. Livio Melina at a private audience. After a long discussion of the recent events at the Pontifical Institute John Paul II, he granted his blessing, expressing his personal solidarity and assuring him of his closeness in prayer.”

Melina, who was president of the John Paul II Institute from 2006 until 2016, was dismissed from the institute after the recent promulgation of new statutes, or rules of order, for the graduate school, and a decision to eliminate the chair of moral theology which Melina held. ….