The solemn Inaugural Session of the Second Academic Year was held on Sunday, 30 January 1938. It was presided over by Pope Pius XI, who had recovered from an illness after a long convalescence. The President, Fr. Agostino Gemelli, addressed his greeting to the Holy Father, thanking him for reforming the Academy in order to "bring it back to that greatness it had at the beginning, when it arose among the first and most illustrious Academies in the world". The President also underlined the universal character of the renewed Academy, which brought together the intellectual forces of each country. Afterwards, Pontifical Academicians Prof. Giancarlo Vallauri and Prof. Wilhelm Friman Bjerknes gave a long, commemorative speech in honour of deceased Academician Guglielmo Marconi.