Abstract
Catholic Universities, present in the twenty-first century in many countries, has its roots in the first universities in Europe in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, although its modern form dates back to the nineteenth century, after which it expanded globally. Catholic University is a community of scholars from various branches of human knowledge dedicated to research, to teaching, and to various kinds of service in accordance with its cultural mission. This is mainly distinguished by a free search for the whole truth about nature, the human being and God from a Catholic perspective. Their responsibilities include carrying out teaching and research with a coherent world vision, providing a real service to the Church and society, and developing a university community with Catholic values. Teaching and research should done by those with competence in each specific discipline, but also by pursuing the integration of various branches of knowledge, seeking the connection between knowledge—culture, science and technology—and Catholic faith and ethics, and promoting dialogue between faith and reason, Gospel and culture, and Catholic teaching and those of other Christian confessions. Respect of human dignity and rights, including religious freedom, and contributing to an integral human development are primordial.
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Notes
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Pius XII, Apostolic Brief of July 27, 1949. Available at Vatican.va
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Generally abbreviated as CIC from its Latin title Codex Iuris Canonici). The current version is from 1983. The number included in the CIC reference is the “canon number” (The CIC is structured in canons or articles). This Codex is the fundamental body of ecclesiastical laws for Roman Catholic Church (also known as the Latin Church or Western Church). The Western Church legislation is different from the Eastern Catholic Church, which includes a minority of Catholics.
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Magna Charta Universitatum, Fundamental Principles, n. 1. http://www.ehea.info/cid101830/magna-charta.html. The Magna Charta was first signed by 388 rectors in Bologna in September 1988, to commemorate the 900th anniversary of the founding of the University of Bologna. It has since been signed by 889 universities from 88 countries (http://www.magna-charta.org/magna-charta-universitatum/signatory-universities).
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Culture in ECE is understood to have a twofold meaning. One “humanistic” –understood as all those factors by which man refines and unfolds his manifold spiritual and bodily qualities, and another which is socio-cultural, which humans throughout the course of time, express, communicate, and conserve in their works (ECE note 16; cf. Vatican Council II, 1965a, no. 53).
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Religious freedom “means that all men are to be immune from coercion on the part of individuals or of social groups and of any human power, in such wise that no one is to be forced to act in a manner contrary to his own beliefs, whether privately or publicly, whether alone or in association with others, within due limits.” (Vatican Council, 1965c, no. 2)
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Melé, D. (2022). The Catholic University—Identity, Mission, and Responsibilities. In: Poff, D.C. (eds) University Corporate Social Responsibility and University Governance. Advances in Business Ethics Research, vol 8. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-77532-2_9
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