John Paul II
EX CORDE ECCLESIAE
APOSTOLIC CONSTITUTION ON CATHOLIC UNIVERSITIES..
Promulgated By His Holiness John Paul II On August 15, 1990.
1. Born from the heart of the Church, a Catholic university is located in
that course of tradition which may be traced back to the very origin of
the university as an institution. It has always been recognized as an
incomparable center of creativity and dissemination of knowledge for the
good of humanity. By vocation, the universitas magistrorum et scholarium
is dedicated to research, to teaching and to the education of students
who freely associate with their teachers in a common love of
knowledge.[1] With every other university it shares that gaudium de
veritate, so precious to St. Augustine, which is that joy of searching
for, discovering and communicating truth[2] in every field of knowledge.
A Catholic university's privileged task is "to unite existentially by
intellectual effort two orders of reality that too frequently tend to be
placed in opposition as though they were antithetical: the search for
truth, and the certainty of already knowing the fount of truth."[3]
2. For many years I myself was deeply enriched by the beneficial
experience of university life: the ardent search for truth and its
unselfish transmission to youth and to all those learning to think
rigorously, so as to act rightly and to serve humanity better.
Therefore, I desire to share with everyone my profound respect for
Catholic universities and to express my great appreciation for the work
that is being done in them in the various spheres of knowledge. In a
particular way, I wish to manifest my joy at the numerous meetings which
the Lord has permitted me to have in the course of my apostolic journeys
with the Catholic university communities of various continents. They are
for me a lively and promising sign of the fecundity of the Christian mind
in the heart of every culture. They give me a well-founded hope for a new
flowering of Christian culture in the rich and varied context of our
changing times, which certainly face serious challenges but which also
bear so much promise under the action of the Spirit of truth and of love.
It is also my desire to express my pleasure and gratitude to the very
many Catholic scholars engaged in teaching and research in non-Catholic
universities. Their task as academics and scientists, lived out in the
light of the Christian faith, is to be considered precious for the good
of the universities in which they teach. Their presence, in fact, is a
continuous stimulus to the selfless search for truth and for the wisdom
that comes from above.
3. Since the beginning of this pontificate, I have shared these ideas and
sentiments with my closest collaborators, the cardinals, with the
Congregation for Catholic Education, and with men and women of culture
throughout the world. In fact, the dialogue of the Church with the
cultures of our times is that vital area where "the future of the Church
and of the world is being played out as we conclude the 20th century."[4]
There is only one culture: that of man, by man and for man.[5] And thanks
to her Catholic universities and their humanistic and scientific
inheritance, the Church, expert in humanity, as my predecessor, Paul VI,
expressed it at the United Nations,[6] explores the mysteries of humanity
and of the world, clarifying them in the light of Revelation.
4. It is the honor and responsibility of a Catholic university to
consecrate itself without reserve to the cause of truth. This is its way
of serving at one and the same time both the dignity of man and the good
of the Church, which has "an intimate conviction that truth is its real
ally...and that knowledge and reason are sure ministers to faith."[7]
Without in any way neglecting the acquisition of useful knowledge, a
Catholic university is distinguished by its free search for the whole
truth about nature, man and God. The present age is in urgent need of
this kind of disinterested service, namely of proclaiming the meaning of
truth, that fundamental value without which freedom, justice and human
dignity are extinguished. By means of a kind of universal humanism a
Catholic university is completely dedicated to the research of all
aspects of truth in their essential connection with the supreme Truth,
who is God. It does this without fear but rather with enthusiasm,
dedicating itself to every path of knowledge, aware of being preceded by
him who is "the Way, the Truth, and the Life,"[8] the Logos, whose Spirit
of intelligence and love enables the human person with his or her own
intelligence to find the ultimate reality of which he is the source and
end and who alone is capable of giving fully that Wisdom without which
the future of the world would be in danger.
5. It is in the context of the impartial search for truth that the
relationship between faith and reason is brought to light and meaning.
The invitation of St. Augustine, "Intellege ut credas; crede ut
intellegas,"[9] is relevant to Catholic universities that are called to
explore courageously the riches of Revelation and of nature so that the
united endeavor of intelligence and faith will enable people to come to
the full measure of their humanity, created in the image and likeness of
God, renewed even more marvelously after sin, in Christ, and called to
shine forth in the light of the Spirit.
6. Through the encounter which it establishes between the unfathomable
richness of the salvific message of the Gospel and the variety and
immensity of the fields of knowledge in which that richness is incarnated
by it, a Catholic university enables the Church to institute an
incomparably fertile dialogue with people of every culture. Man's life is
given dignity by culture, and, while he finds his fullness in Christ,
there can be no doubt that the Gospel, which reaches and renews him in
every dimension, is also fruitful for the culture in which he lives.
7. In the world today, characterized by such rapid developments in
science and technology, the tasks of a Catholic university assume an ever
greater importance and urgency. Scientific and technological discoveries
create an enormous economic and industrial growth, but they also
inescapably require the correspondingly necessary search for meaning in
order to guarantee that the new discoveries be used for the authentic
good of individuals and of human society as a whole. If it is the
responsibility of every university to search for such meaning, a Catholic
university is called in a particular way to respond to this need: Its
Christian inspiration enables it to include the moral, spiritual and
religious dimension in its research, and to evaluate the attainments of
science and technology in the perspective of the totality of the human
person.
In this context Catholic universities are called to a continuous renewal,
both as "universities" and as "Catholic." For "what is at stake is the
very meaning of scientific and technological research, of social life and
of culture, but, on an even more profound level, what is at stake is the
very meaning of the human person."[10] Such renewal requires a clear
awareness that, by its Catholic character, a university is made more
capable of conducting an impartial search for truth, a search that is
neither subordinated to nor conditioned by particular interests of any
kind.
8. Having already dedicated the Apostolic Constitution Sapientia
Christiana to ecclesiastical faculties and universities,[11] I then felt
obliged to propose an analogous document for Catholic universities as a
sort of "magna carta," enriched by the long and fruitful experience of
the Church in the realm of universities and open to the promise of future
achievements that will require courageous creativity and rigorous
fidelity.
9. The present document is addressed especially to those who conduct
Catholic universities, to the respective academic communities, to all
those who have an interest in them, particularly the bishops, religious
congregations and ecclesial institutions, and to the numerous laity who
are committed to the great mission of higher education. Its purpose is
that "the Christian mind may achieve, as it were, a public, persistent
and universal presence in the whole enterprise of advancing higher
culture and that the students of these institutions become people
outstanding in learning, ready to shoulder society's heavier burdens and
to witness the faith to the world."[12]
10. In addition to Catholic universities, I also turn to the many
Catholic institutions of higher education. According to their nature and
proper objectives, they share some or all of the characteristics of a
university and they offer their own contribution to the Church and to
society, whether through research, education or professional training.
While this document specifically concerns Catholic universities, it is
also meant to include all Catholic institutions of higher education
engaged in instilling the Gospel message of ...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Go to the beginning of the document
Go to previous page
Go to next page
Go to the end of document
