Pope says Catholic universities called to merge faith with science

Published: 2004-04-27

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Catholic universities and faculty departments operating under a papal charter have a special obligation to bring the Gospel and Catholic teaching to bear on modern questions involving science, ethics and human rights, Pope John Paul II said. "Ecclesiastical universities and faculties must play a role in the 'great springtime' God is preparing for Christianity," Pope John Paul told officials of the Congregation for Catholic Education. The pope met the officials April 27 to mark the 25th anniversary of his apostolic constitution, "Sapientia Christiana" ("Christian Wisdom"), which established new norms for the universities and faculties that operate under a papal charter and offer special church degrees in philosophy, theology and canon law. The church's teaching mission has "a particular importance in today's reality, which is marked on one side by an impressive technical progress and, on the other, by various contradictions, divisions and tensions," the pope said.

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