By definition,

Catholic canon law The canon law of the Catholic Church () is "how the Church organizes and governs herself". It is the system of religious laws and ecclesiastical legal principles made and enforced by the hierarchical authorities of the Catholic Church to regul ...

states that "A Catholic school is understood to be one which is under control of the competent ecclesiastical authority or of a public ecclesiastical juridical person, or one which in a written document is acknowledged as Catholic by the ecclesiastical authority" (Can. 803). Although some schools are deemed "Catholic" because of their identity and a great number of students enrolled are Catholics, it is also stipulated in canon law that "no school, even if it is in fact Catholic, may bear the title 'Catholic school' except by the consent of the competent ecclesiastical authority" (Can. 803 §3). The

Dominican Order The Order of Preachers (, abbreviated OP), commonly known as the Dominican Order, is a Catholic Church, Catholic mendicant order of pontifical right that was founded in France by a Castilians, Castilian priest named Saint Dominic, Dominic de Gu ...

was "the first order instituted by the Church with an academic mission", founding in every

convent A convent is an enclosed community of monks, nuns, friars or religious sisters. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The term is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

of the order, and ''studia generalia'' at the early European universities such as the

University of Bologna The University of Bologna (, abbreviated Unibo) is a Public university, public research university in Bologna, Italy. Teaching began around 1088, with the university becoming organised as guilds of students () by the late 12th century. It is the ...

and the

University of Paris The University of Paris (), known Metonymy, metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated wit ...

. In Europe, most universities with

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

history were founded as Catholic. Many of them were rescinded to government authorities in the

Modern era The modern era or the modern period is considered the current historical period of human history. It was originally applied to the history of Europe and Western history for events that came after the Middle Ages, often from around the year 1500 ...

. Some, however, remained Catholic, while new ones were established alongside the public ones. The Catholic Church is still the largest non-governmental provider of higher education in the world. Many of them are still internationally competitive. According to the census of the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Geography * Vatican City, an independent city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy * Vatican Hill, in Rome, namesake of Vatican City * Ager Vaticanus, an alluvial plain in Rome * Vatican, an unincorporated community in the ...

Congregation for Catholic Education The Congregation for Catholic Education (Institutes of Study) () was the pontifical congregation of the Roman Curia responsible for: universities, faculties, institutes and higher schools of study, either ecclesial or non-ecclesiastical depende ...

, the total number of Catholic universities and

higher education Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...

institutions around the world is 1,358. On the other hand, the

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is the episcopal conference of the Catholic Church in the United States. Founded in 2001 after the merger of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) and United States Catholic C ...

(USCCB) counts it at 1,861. The Catholic religious order with the highest number of universities around the world today is the

Society of Jesus The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...

with 114. Like other private schools, Catholic universities and colleges are generally nondenominational, in that they accept anyone regardless of religious affiliation, nationality, ethnicity, or civil status, provided the admission or enrollment requirements and legal documents are submitted, and rules and regulations are obeyed for a fruitful life on

campus A campus traditionally refers to the land and buildings of a college or university. This will often include libraries, lecture halls, student centers and, for residential universities, residence halls and dining halls. By extension, a corp ...

. However, non-Catholics, whether Christian or not, do not necessarily participate in otherwise required campus activities, particularly those of a religious nature. The

International Federation of Catholic Universities The International Federation of Catholic Universities () is an organisation of 226 Catholic universities throughout the world. The secretariat is at the Institut Catholique de Paris. History The federation has its origins in collaboration in 192 ...

has its origins in collaboration in 1924 between the

Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, colloquially the Catholic University of Milan () or simply the Cattolica, is an Italian private research university founded in 1921. Its main campus is located in Milan, Italy, with satellite campuses in B ...

in Milan and the Catholic university of Nijmegen in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. In 2023, it had 226 members universities in the world.

Academic freedom in Catholic universities in the USA

In early American history

From the colonial period through the first half of the nineteenth century, college and university professors were regularly selected from the ranks of clergy who were members of the denomination sponsoring the college. The questions of academic freedom that arose during this era of college sectarianism often involved the charge of heresy. These college professors typically cared little about publishing the latest tract on the newest topics in their discipline—assuming they saw themselves as members of a discrete academic discipline, which would have been unusual. Rather, their position was to share what they knew and to serve as role models embodying Christian wisdom and the virtues of the college's sponsoring religious community.

In nineteenth and early twentieth century America

Following the German university model, major American universities in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were reconfigured as research institutions. No longer content with merely conveying an unchanging body of knowledge from one generation to the next, the modern university was now dedicated to the discovery of new knowledge. Thus, the modern academic was identified by “intellect rather than piety” and marked by productivity in scholarly publication rather than proficiency in the classroom. American academics borrowed two concepts from their German counterparts: ''Lernfreiheit''—the freedom of students to study and take the courses of one's choice—and ''Lehrfreiheit''—the right of the professor to freedom in his teaching, as well as the right to freedom of inquiry, and to share the results of his research with others. In the second half of the twentieth century, a sequence of events led to the blossoming of academic freedom in Catholic universities in the United States.

Late twentieth century America

In December 1965, St. John's University in Jamaica, New York, abruptly terminated thirty-one professors (most of them teachers of theology or philosophy), without allowing them to finish teaching their fall semester classes, citing their divergence from Church teaching (especially Thomist theology/philosophy). Similarly, in October 1966, four professors of theology and philosophy at the University of Dayton were accused of teaching that was contrary to the magisterium of the Church. These events led to a conference at the University of Notre Dame in April 1966, which resulted in the publication of a book on this topic the following year, titled Academic Freedom and the Catholic University. The

Land O'Lakes Statement The Land O'Lakes Statement of 1967 was an influential manifesto published in Land o' Lakes, Wisconsin, about Catholic higher education in the United States. Inspired by the liberalization represented by the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965), th ...

of 1967 was an influential manifesto published in Land o' Lakes, Wisconsin, about

Catholic higher education Catholic higher education includes university, universities, colleges, and other institutions of higher education privately run by the Catholic Church, typically by Religious institute (Catholic), religious institutes. Those tied to the Holy See ...

in the United States. Inspired by the liberalization represented by the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...

(Vatican II, 1962–1965), the statement declared that "To perform its teaching and research functions effectively the Catholic university must have a true autonomy and academic freedom in the face of authority of whatever kind, lay or clerical, external to the academic community itself." In the next few decades hundreds of Catholic schools kept the religious designation but began to operate independently from, and sometimes in opposition to, Catholic teaching. The Land O'Lakes Statement was drafted by theologian Neil McCluskey at the request of

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

president Father

Theodore Hesburgh Theodore Martin Hesburgh, Congregation of Holy Cross, CSC (May 25, 1917 – February 26, 2015) was an American Catholic Church, Catholic priest and academic who was a member of the Congregation of Holy Cross. He was president of the Universit ...

. They helped plan the meetings for the

(IFCU), which took place at a University of Notre Dame meeting center in Land O'Lakes, Wisconsin. These meetings culminated with the statement, written by McCluskey, entitled “The Nature of the Contemporary Catholic University,” better known as "The Land O’Lakes Statement". The seminar on the role of Catholic universities was sponsored by University of Notre Dame and was attended by the presidents of the University of Notre Dame, Georgetown,

Seton Hall Seton Hall University (SHU) is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizab ...

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

, Fordham, St. Louis University, and the

Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico The Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Puerto Rico) is a private Roman Catholic university with its main campus in Ponce, Puerto Rico. It provides courses leading to Bachelor's, Master's and Docto ...

. Over a dozen other educators from North American Catholic institutions of higher education were also present. McCluskey was subsequently be named chair of the IFCU meeting at the

Lovanium University Lovanium University () was a Catholic university in Kinshasa in the Belgian Congo. The university was established in 1954 on the Kimwenza plateau, near Kinshasa. The university continued to function after independence until it was merged into th ...

Kinshasa Kinshasa (; ; ), formerly named Léopoldville from 1881–1966 (), is the Capital city, capital and Cities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Kinshasa is one of the world's fastest-grow ...

in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

, which released “The Kinshasa Statement on the Catholic University in the Modern World of the IFCU,” as well as the Congress of Catholic Universities' “The Rome Statement on the Catholic University and the Aggiornamento.” The final Statement was based on background papers by:

George Nauman Shuster George Nauman Shuster was an American journalist, author, and educator who was born in Lancaster, Wisconsin in 1894 and died in South Bend, Indiana, on January 25, 1977. Born into German ethnic community, he attended Catholic schools and earned h ...

John Tracy Ellis John Tracy Ellis (July 30, 1905 – October 16, 1992) was an American Catholic Church historian and priest, born and raised in Seneca, Illinois, US. Soon after he was ordained, he received a doctorate in history from Catholic University of Americ ...

, Michael P. Walsh, S.J., Thomas Ambrogi, S.J., Paul C. Reinert, S.J., Neil G. McCluskey, S.J., William Richardson, S.J., John E. Walsh, C.S.C., Larenzo Roy and Lucien Vachon. Most of the final drafting was done by Robert J. Henle, S.J. The statement had a pervasive influence on Catholic higher education. Within a few years after 1967, a majority of Catholic colleges and universities in the United States dropped their legal ties to the Catholic Church and turned over their institutions to independent boards of trustees. The Vatican was alarmed.

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI (born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding John XXII ...

informally warned Jesuits: "in teaching and publications in all form of academic life a provision must be made for complete orthodoxy of teaching, for obedience to the magisterium of the church, for fidelity to the hierarchy and the Holy See." The Land O'Lakes statement was repudiated by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

in 1990 in '' Ex corde Ecclesiae'', the apostolic constitution for Catholic universities. Nevertheless, the Vatican and the bishops were powerless to reverse the change in legal status that made hundreds of schools independent of the Church.Edward P. Hahnenberg, "Theodore M. Hesburgh, Theologian: Revisiting Land O’Lakes Fifty Years Later." ''Theological Studies'' 78.4 (2017): 930-959.

Notes

External links

Land O'Lakes Statement

Academic Freedom and the Catholic University
Catholic universities and colleges Academic freedom