Vatican City, Jan 29, 2018 / 06:40 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Monday Pope Francis released a new apostolic constitution calling for a “radical” reform to the nature and curriculum of ecclesiastical universities and institutions.
“The primary need today is for the whole People of God to be ready to embark upon a new stage of Spirit-filled evangelization,” the Pope said in the document, “Vertatis Gaudium.”
This new stage of evangelization, he said, “calls for a resolute process of discernment, purification and reform. In this process, a fitting renewal of the system of ecclesiastical studies plays a strategic role.”
Signed Dec. 8, 2017, and published Jan. 29, 2018, the 87-page document is Francis’ is titled “Veritatis Gaudium,” meaning “the joy of truth.”
The document deals specifically with ecclesiastical universities and faculties, which, differing from regular Catholic universities, offer Vatican-approved degrees required to teach in seminaries or at pontifical universities.
It consists of two parts dedicated to general norms and specific norms, and also contains an appendix and norms of application. The document is meant to “update” previous norms, and abrogates any prior rules which contradict the new ones laid out by Pope Francis in Veritatis Gaudium.
The document abrogates any contrary norms established by John Paul II’s 1979 Apostolic Constitution “Sapientia Christiana,” issued after a careful study of the Second Vatican Council’s decree “Optatam Totius” on ecclesiastical studies. However, John Paul II’s 1990 Apostolic Constitution “Ex corde Ecclesiae” is not impacted , as it deals specifically with Catholic colleges and universities, rather than ecclesiastical academic entities.
Criteria
In the foreword for his new constitution, Pope Francis, who has often spoken of the importance of education, said that while offering a great contribution to the Church’s life and mission, Sapientia Christiana “urgently needs to be brought up to date.”
“While remaining fully valid in its prophetic vision and its clarity of expression, the constitution ought to include the norms and dispositions issued since its promulgation, and to take into account developments in the area of academic studies in these past decades,” he said.
“There is also a need to acknowledge the changed social-cultural context worldwide and to implement initiatives on the international level to which the Holy See has adhered.”
Francis noted that the world is currently living not only a time of change, but it is also experiencing “a true epochal shift, marked by a wide-ranging anthropological and environmental crisis,” such as natural, social and financial disasters which are swiftly reaching “a breaking point.”
This reality, he said, requires “changing the models of global development and redefining our notion of progress.” However, a great problem in doing this is the fact that “we still lack the culture necessary to confront this crisis. We lack leadership capable of striking out on new paths.”
Because of this, he said that on the cultural level as well as that of academic training and scientific study, “a radical paradigm shift” and “a bold cultural revolution” are needed which involve a worldwide network of ecclesiastical universities and faculties which are capable of promoting the Gospel and Church Tradition, but which are also “ever open to new situations and ideas.”
“Philosophy and theology permit one to acquire the convictions that structure and strengthen the intelligence and illuminate the will,” he said, but cautioned that this “is fruitful only if it is done with an open mind and on one’s knees.”
“The theologian who is satisfied with his complete and conclusive thought is mediocre,” Francis said. However, “the good theologian and philosopher has an open, that is, an incomplete, thought, always open to the maius of God and of the truth, always in development.”
Pope Francis then listed four criteria for ecclesiastical studies which he said are rooted in the Second Vatican Council’s teaching and and inspired by the changes that have taken place in the decades since.
The first of the criteria, he said, is the “contemplation and the presentation of a spiritual, intellectual and existential introduction to the heart of the kerygma, namely the ever fresh and attractive good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”
Secondly, he said there is need for a “wide-ranging dialogue” which is not merely a “tactical approach,” but which is “an intrinsic requirement for experiencing in community the joy of the truth and appreciating more fully its meaning and practical implications.”
He then pointed to the need for an “inter-disciplinary and cross-disciplinary” approach which is carried out “with wisdom and creativity in the light of revelation.”
“What distinguishes the academic, formative and research approach of the system of ecclesiastical studies, on the level of both content and method,” he said, “is the vital intellectual principle of the unity in difference of knowledge and respect for its multiple, correlated and convergent expressions.”
The fourth and final criteria the Pope gave was “the urgent need for networking” between worldwide institutions that “cultivate and promote ecclesiastical studies, in order to set up suitable channels of cooperation also with academic institutions in the different countries and with those inspired by different cultural and religious traditions.”
In this regard, he said there is a need to establish more specialized centers of research dedicated to studying “the epochal issues affecting humanity today and to offer appropriate and realistic paths for their resolution.”
He urged the competent authorities to give a “new impulse” to scientific research conducted in ecclesiastical universities and faculties, saying the need for new and qualified research centers is “indispensable.”
These centers, the Pope said, ought to include scholars from different religious universities and from different scientific fields who can interact with “responsible freedom and mutual transparency.”
He said plans are already under way for the establishment of “outstanding interdisciplinary centers and initiatives aimed at accompanying the development of advanced technologies, the best use of human resources and programs of integration.”
Norms
In the new norms, Francis outlined the role, nature and purpose of ecclesiastical universities and faculties, saying they are to evangelize and, through scientific research, better enunciate the truths of the faith and present them in “a manner adapted to various cultures.”
Bishops’ conferences will be charged with overseeing the life and progress of the universities, and are to be headed by a chancellor who will serve as the entity’s go-between with the Holy See. All ecclesial universities and institutions will be overseen by the Congregation for Catholic Education, headed by Cardinal Giuseppe Versaldi.
Regarding the role of teachers, the Pope said there must be several teachers of various ranks in each faculty, including permanent ones.
Criteria necessary to be considered for appointment to such faculties include the need to be “distinguished by wealth of knowledge, witness of Christian and ecclesial life, and a sense of responsibility.”
Teachers, Francis said, must also have a doctorate or similar equivalent title or scientific accomplishment; they must show “documentary proof” of their suitability for doing scientific research, preferably a published dissertation, and they must demonstrate adequate teaching ability.
He also stressed that all teachers, no matter their rank, “must be marked by an upright life, integrity of doctrine, and devotion to duty, so that they can effectively contribute to the proper goals of an ecclesiastical academic institution.”
This goes for both Catholics and non-Catholics, as the document allows for non-Catholic professors to teach specialized courses at ecclesiastical universities and institutions in their areas of expertise.
Francis said that should any of the required criteria cease, “the teachers must be removed from their post, observing the established procedures.”
Teachers who instruct on faith and morals, he said, “are to be conscious of their duty to carry out their work in full communion with the authentic Magisterium of the Church, above all, with that of the Roman Pontiff.”
On the role of students who attend the ecclesiastical universities and institutions, the Pope said these entities must be open “to all who can legally give testimony to leading a moral life and to having completed the previous studies appropriate to enrolling in the faculty.”
As far as the study plan for ecclesiastical entities, the Pope said they must place a focus on ecclesial texts, with special emphasis on those from the Second Vatican Council, while also taking into account scientific advances that contribute to answering questions on modern concerns.
“Up-to-date didactic and teaching methods should be applied in an appropriate way, in order to bring about the personal involvement of the students and their active participation in their studies,” he said.
The Pope also said there must be freedom and flexibility in terms of research, but stressed that it must be “based upon firm adherence to God’s Word and deference to the Church’s Magisterium, whose duty it is to interpret authentically the Word of God.”
“Therefore, in such a weighty matter one must proceed with trust, and without suspicion, but the same time with prudence and without rashness, especially in teaching; moreover, one must carefully harmonize the necessities of science with the pastoral needs of the People of God.”
He said faculties of theology have the specific task of “profoundly studying and systematically explaining, according to the scientific method proper to it, Catholic doctrine, derived with the greatest care from divine revelation” and of carefully seeking solutions to human problems in light of this revelation.
Revealed truth, the Pope said, must be considered alongside valid scientific accomplishments, in order to see “how faith and reason give harmonious witness to the unity of all truth.”
“Also, its exposition is to be such that, without any change of the truth, there is adaptation to the nature and character of every culture, taking special account of the philosophy and the wisdom of various peoples,” Pope Francis said, but stressed that “all syncretism and every kind of false particularism are to be excluded.”
While the positive aspects of the various cultures and philosophies studied are to be sought and taken up after careful examination, he said “systems and methods incompatible with Christian faith must not be accepted.”
Ecumenical questions must be “carefully treated,” as well as questions regarding relationships with non-Christian religions. In addition, Francis said problems that arise from atheism and other currents of contemporary culture must also be “scrupulously studied.”
“In studying and teaching the Catholic doctrine, fidelity to the Magisterium of the Church is always to be emphasized. In the carrying out of teaching duties, especially in the basic cycle, those things are, above all, to be imparted which belong to the received patrimony of the Church,” he said. “Hypothetical or personal opinions which come from new research are to be modestly presented as such.”
Faculties of canon law, whether in the Latin rite or in Eastern rites, must cultivate and promote the judicial disciplines in light of the Gospel, he said.
These faculties, Francis said, should include a first, two-year cycle for those who have no prior education in philosophy and theology, as well as those who have a degree in civil law. During this first cycle, students ought to study the basic concepts of canon law, philosophy and theology in order to advance.
In the second cycle, which he said should last three years, students must become familiar with canon law “in all its expressions,” including the normative, jurisprudential, doctrinal, praxis, and the codes for both the Latin and Eastern Churches should be studied “in depth” with magisterial and disciplinary sources.
As with theology, the third cycle ought to consist of a suitable time-frame in which students finish their training with scholarly research aimed at preparing a doctoral dissertation.
Faculties of philosophy, he said, have the aim of “investigating philosophical problems according to scientific methodology, basing itself on a heritage of perennially valid philosophy.”
Philosophical study, Francis said, must look for solutions in the light of “natural reason” and must also demonstrate “consistency with the Christian view of the world, of man, and of God, placing in a proper light the relationship between philosophy and theology.”
The first cycle of study, he said, should last for three years and consist of an “organic exposition” of the various aspects of philosophy – including the world, man and God – as well as a look at the history of philosophy and an introduction to the method of scientific research.
In the second cycle, which should last for two years, Francis said specializations ought to begin through special disciplines and seminars. The third cycle, which he said should last for three years, must promote “philosophical maturity” through writing a dissertation.
The document also included new norms on other types of faculties, degrees, financial management, strategic planning and cooperation, and leadership ad government for ecclesiastical universities and institutions.
These new norms will go into effect on the first day of the 2018-2019 academic year or of the 2019 academic year, depending on the calendar year of the various academic entities. Each faculty or university must present their revised statutes and plan of studies before Dec. 8, 2019.
After being presented, the new statutes and plans of study will be approved “ad experimentum” for a three-year period. However, faculties with a juridical connection with civil authorities can be given a longer period of time with permission from the Congregation for Catholic Education.
[…]
In a 1982 letter to Pope John Paul II, Sister Lucia explains that it was the failure of Catholic Popes to get mankind to repent of their massive sinfulness which caused God not to grant us World Peace, in place of WWII. Also, the failure of Popes to properly and timely, Consecrate Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary is what caused the Russian menace of the world today, according to Sister Lucia.
More than Pope Francis’ prayers, we need Pope Francis to tell all of humanity to repent of their massive sinfulness, so that God will grant us Peace on Earth.
“Sister Lucia had already given an indication for interpreting the third part of the “secret” in a letter to the Holy Father, dated 12 May 1982:
“The third part of the secret refers to Our Lady’s words: ‘If not [Russia] will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions of the Church. The good will be martyred; the Holy Father will have much to suffer; various nations will be annihilated’ (13-VII-1917).
The third part of the secret is a symbolic revelation, referring to this part of the Message, conditioned by whether we accept or not what the Message itself asks of us: ‘If my requests are heeded, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace; if not, she will spread her errors throughout the world, etc.’.
Since we did not heed this appeal of the Message, we see that it has been fulfilled, Russia has invaded the world with her errors. And if we have not yet seen the complete fulfilment of the final part of this prophecy, we are going towards it little by little with great strides. If we do not reject the path of sin, hatred, revenge, injustice, violations of the rights of the human person, immorality and violence, etc.
And let us not say that it is God who is punishing us in this way; on the contrary it is people themselves who are preparing their own punishment. In his kindness God warns us and calls us to the right path, while respecting the freedom he has given us; hence people are responsible.”
Quoted from:
https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20000626_message-fatima_en.html
‘ The “symptoms” are then evident: “complaining”, “negativity”, “chronic dissatisfaction with what is wrong”, “irony that becomes cynicism.” ‘
https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2023-08/pope-to-priest-of-rome-i-am-on-the-journey-with-you.html
https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/it/letters/2023/documents/20230805-lettera-sacerdoti.html
“The young people are a surprise. Young people are young, they act youthful, life is like that. But they are seeking to move forward. And they are the future. The idea is to accompany them.” Such comments by Pope Francis suggest that he shares a speech writer with Kamala Harris.
After all these years I finally understand what ROFL means.
More soberly, it was reported that he got into one of his particularly vile and venomous tirades towards Catholics who are Catholic, insinuating they necessarily suffer from mental illness.
And I wonder why the reporters at the Catholic New Agency can not give an explanation of why Catholics who are Catholic should singularly be excluded from the class of humanity where where “everyone is welcome.”
The pope said he prayed to Mary. He should read from the authors here that the church does not pray or worship Mary, but only put their trust in Jesus Christ. Someone needs to inform him immediately!
What website are you reading, Brian? Yes we DO “pray” to Mary, and the angels and saints. Not in the way we pray to God or honor him as GOD, but to ask for her help and intercession–just as we would anyone else on earth.
“Beginning with Mary’s unique cooperation with the working of the Holy Spirit, the Churches developed their prayer to the holy Mother of God, centering it on the person of Christ manifested in his mysteries. In countless hymns and antiphons expressing this prayer, two movements usually alternate with one another: the first ‘magnifies’ the Lord for the ‘great things’ he did for his lowly servant and through her for all human beings the second entrusts the supplications and praises of the children of God to the Mother of Jesus, because she now knows the humanity which, in her, the Son of God espoused.” (CCC, 2675)
Brian is an anti-Catholic troll who shows up now and then.
One of the many “mysteries” of Fundamentalism is that good Fundamentalist folks (such as my parents, God bless them) will ask for you to pray for them, but once a fellow Fundamentalist has died and moved on immediately to heaven, one cannot attempt to communicate with them in prayer, as that is somehow idolatrous. Because, of course, being in the presence of God immediately severs one from any sort of relationship or communication with those remaining in this life. Sigh.
That’s so well described Carl Olson thank you.
And here we thought brother Brian was a Fundamentalist literally wired into every word of sola Scriptura. Silly us…
Instead, we read “We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, for we have heard your faith in Christ Jesus AND of the love that you bear towards all the saints [even Mary!]” (Col 1:3-4); and “Therefore let us also, having such a cloud of witnesses over us…” (Heb 12:1).
Still looking for the lines explaining that the saints are blind, deaf and dumb, and totally alienated from those of us who, otherwise, might call upon our friends in high places.
Hey Brain! You, as a member of the ‘invisible church’ surely should understand something about the invisible spiritual world. Have you never heard of the Body of Christ or the Communion of Saints? Do you recite a creed in your protestant splinter group? Whether we like it or not, we are related to one another. Perhaps you have never encountered the scripture where Jesus says something like: If you do it to the least of my brothers, you do it to me. If you pray to one of Christ’s close and favored disciples, He will take note. It is not a difficult concept. OTOH, plenty of people believe that faith should be unthinking. Why do you think that is?
“To pray” simply means “to ask”. It is not a form of worship when directed to the Blessed Queen Mother.
Not to judge him…. but I find it a poor excuse for not saying the Fatima Prayer…. I know I immediately said it after hearing he didn’t. Lady of Fatima pray for us.
We read: “If you make a clear speech with an idea, an image, an affection, [young people] can follow you for eight minutes.” And, we know the lower limit of this decline; the measured attention span of a goldfish circling around in its bowl is eight seconds!”
And, of the Church, the plummeting attention span used to be measured in two millennia, or at least centuries, but something more than the past ten years….Take, for example, history’s 17th-century Francis Bacon who’s scientific agenda was “to put nature on the rack to reveal her secrets for our control”….On this point, do we see a parallel between nuclear guru J. Robert Oppenheimer and synodal guru Cardinal Hollerich?
The former unlocked the most intimate secrets of the physical universe with the birth of unlimited atomic power–with “nature on the rack,” the mushroom cloud deflowered Mother Nature! With Hollerich in mind, God has shared His copyright [!] with us on how to produce new persons–each as a unique universe infused with a personal soul directly by God. Now, Hollerich & Co. would drown such binary/complementary human sexuality under a primordial sea of indifferent, anti-binary and alphabetized sexual randomness.
As with Bacon, Hollerich also appeals to a “sociological-scientific foundation” for the rack treatment, now to replace self-evident human physiology and coherent moral theology. His signaled dispensation broadly obsolesces the natural family and with it, all the past history–and future–of peripheralized (!) human civilization.
A short attention span, that–this part of a “Synod on [the back of] Synodality.” In the interests of families and human flourishing, the perennial Catholic Church and legitimate synods, should the man in a red hat stop circling the fish bowl?
And, honorably decline an assigned role shown to be over his head?
For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. 1 Timothy 2:5. This is in the Catholic bible. Charles, what bible references are you using to say that dead people can intercede to God for us?
Bible reference? Probably where Christ himself says that dead folks ain’t dead: “Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life!” (John 5:24). So, “dead people”?
But why listen to the incarnate Word when we can selectively pick through goat entrails and tea leaves, messing blindly with our private notion of sola scriptura “words” as we pretend to see fit?
Yes, and The Blessed Virgin and the Saints intercede with the Lord for us. In doing so they are acting as mediators between us and Jesus. We also act as mediators when we pray for others.
Young people love to pray and sing together. WYD Lisbon 2023 has been a memorable spiritual experience.
If I were at WYD, the monstrance in a storage box, sacred hosts in a plastic bowl, the DJ priest and the Cirque de Soleil-type Stations of the Cross will surely stick in my memory. Spiritual experience? I hope and pray that the young people got some of that despite the above.
Again Peter………taken out of context. The people chosen by God for heavenly eternity who have died are “with Christ”, but they in no way can intercede ours prayers to Him.
The context of segmented sola Scriptura. Get a life.
The Lord has revealed to us that those who have gone before us are constantly interceding for us. Sometimes they have been sent by the Lord to appear to certain people. The Apostles too have taught us EVERYTHING the Lord taught them. As the Bible says, only a fraction is written down in the Bible. The Lord never commanded that His teachings be written down but told the Apostles to pass along all His teachings by word of mouth. The Bible is certainly divinely inspired in spite of Luther throwing out 7 books and adding the word “alone” after the words “we are saved by faith” because he didn’t want to believe what those words said. 10 people can and do interpret scripture in 10 different ways which is why only those who are familiar with Biblical Theology, Typology, ancient Hebrew and figures of figures of etc and are also led by the Holy Spirit should pretend to know the correct interpretation.
How exactly has he revealed that everyone before you constantly intercedes for you?
There is a whole list of revelations on it. I would start with Marian apparitions; however, instead, I will yield the initial proof to Elijah, taken up into heaven on Israel’s chariots and horses.
Who then gave a double portion of his spirit to Elisha that Elijah had promised to do.
Dismas.
Tombs opening when Jesus gave up His Spirit to the Father.
Angels who were always ahead of us interceding for us. I would cite Gabriel first at the Annunciation but I yield the initial position to Raphael telling Tobias what he was about with his other Angels.
Michael, defeating the devil in heaven and even now -done also for our sakes.
Enoch.
Petitions to saints answered proving their intercessions -and miracles.
You want to suppose it is something so remarkable that it can’t be real. But it is remarkable and it is real. As real as the angel transporting Habakkuk to Daniel in the lion’s den to deliver the food -here on earth.
O but you mustn’t think I am so bright. I was stirred up by what Carl Olson said.
O like the saints in heaven appearing to other saints on earth as one Catherine plus one Margaret to one Joan. Dare I say.
Jesus Himself promised Nathanael that Nathanael would be one such intercessor.
And then there’s the sweeping mystery of human suffering…Why does God permit it? Indeed, why did God take our suffering upon himself, right down to the dregs on the Contradiction of the Cross?
On Calvary—the total sacrifice/communion continued and extended at each Mass—even human suffering, itself, has been redeemed. God takes on our suffering; AND in our own suffering we can mysteriously take part in the suffering of Christ. St. Pope John Paul II remarks that “human suffering, by reason of the loving union with Christ, completes the suffering of Christ” (from Salvifici dolorus SD, On Human Suffering, Feb. 11, 1984). Recall St. Paul: “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church” (Colossians 1:24).
Human suffering “completes that suffering just as the Church completes the redemptive work of Christ [….] Christ achieved the Redemption completely and to the very limit; But at the same time, He did not bring it to a close” (SD). St. John Paul II then turns to the parable of the Good Samaritan—and we learn that each of us should be sensitive to the suffering, now, of those other than ourselves. Something, ultimately, about the sincere gift of our very selves…
But, are we to believe, with brother Brian and his evangelical minister of 30 years ago, that those who are now fully with Christ are somehow exempted and excluded from His example and the very life of Christ as shown to us partially even on this earth? Sharing of the abundant Life—even including intercession by those deceased/fully living—is not clipped short by passing through the veil.
Yes, Brian, the Catholic Faith often has not been presented well. But 30 years—a long time to fast (!) from the mystery of the Mass and Eucharistic incorporation into the Mystical Body of Christ.
Sir. Beautiful.
The Media are not to be trusted. Period.
I finally got one in a Christian church after God called me out of 30 years with the Catholic church.
It wasn’t God who called you out His Bride, the Catholic Church. He has already shown us that He IS the Catholic Church, even when her leaders are sinful and heretics etc. Those who apostatize will be lost unless they repent.