Seminar to be held on responsibilities of Catholic universities

Vatican City, Nov 13, 2009 / 15:28 pm

The Vatican announced today that the Pontifical Gregorian University will host an upcoming event to discuss the responsibilities of Catholic universities.

The event, titled “The Catholic University in post-modern societies” will be held at Rome's Pontifical Gregorian University from Nov. 16-20, and is presented by the International Federation of Catholic Universities (FIUC).

The Federation is known for it's contribution to the Apostolic Constitution “Ex corde Ecclesiae,” which was approved by the late Pope John Paul II in 1990. The document outlines the essentials that a Catholic university must have in order to “guarantee a Christian presence in the academic world, in the face of the great problems of society and culture.”

During today's press conference, Pedro Nel Medina Varon, adjunct secretary general of FIUC, discussed the three main responsibilities that the Catholic university has.

The first is “preserving the Catholic tradition,” he said, explaining that this means preserving “the reflection that the Christian community has been developing for the last two thousand years concerning the most profound questions about life and the human condition, as well as the beliefs and values transmitted by the gospel.” Varon went on to say that the second purpose of the Catholic university “is the integral education of the person.” The third purpose, he stated, is “service to the Church, and the preservation of the Catholic intellectual tradition through the integral education of the person.”

Some of the other themes to be discussed during the upcoming event are: the Catholic university in dialogue with cultures and religions, the Catholic university and the Christian intellectual tradition, the political and social responsibility of the Catholic university and the future of the Catholic university.