Fribourg: Ticino historian Lorenzo Planzi succeeds Prof. Delgado – Swiss Catholic Portal

The historian Ticino Lorenzo Planzi presented his accreditation thesis for the first time on March 27 2026 in Rome. He is appointed professor of medieval and modern church history at the Faculty of Theology of the University of Fribourg. He will take office from August 2026.

The Swiss Ambassador to the Holy See, Manuela Leimgruber, organized an opening evening in her residence on this occasion. Representatives of the academic world, diplomacy and the Holy See participated in the evening, including the Swiss cardinals Kurt Koch and Emil Paul Tscherrig. Previously at the end of the general audience in Saint Peter’s Square, Lorenzo Planzi personally presented his work to Pope Leo XI, indicates a press release from the Faculty of Theology.

The work, entitled Switzerland and the Holy See, from rupture to dialogue,is the result of a research project funded by the Swiss National Fund (SNSF). It analyzes the informal relations between Switzerland and the Holy See from the time of the Kulturkampf until the end of the First World War (1873–1920). The work was submitted as habilitation with Professor Mariano Delgado.

Originally from Ticino, Lorenzo Planzi obtained his matriculation at the Collegio Papio in Ascona. He studied history and theology and conducted research in Fribourg, Rome and Paris. Among other things, he is co-editor of a work on the ten Swiss cardinals, to be published in 2026, in which he focuses on cardinals Gaspard Mermillod (1824-1892) and Gilberto Agustoni (1922-2017). (cath.ch/com/mp)