The Congregation for Catholic Education (Institutes of Study) (Latin: Congregatio de Institutione Catholica (Studiorum Institutis)) is the Pontifical congregation of the Roman Curia responsible for: (1) universities, faculties, institutes and higher schools of study, either ecclesial or non-ecclesiastical dependent on ecclesial persons; and (2) schools and educational institutes depending on ecclesiastical authorities.
Contents
- History
- Offices
- Competences on Ecclesiastical Higher Education Institutions
- National Qualifications Framework of the Ecclesiastical Higher Education System of the Holy See
- Prefects since 1915
- Secretaries since 1913
- Documents published by the Congregation for Catholic Education
- References
It was also in charge of regulating seminaries, which prepare those students intending to become priests (seminarians) for ordination to the presbyterate, until 16 January 2013, when Pope Benedict XVI transferred the oversight of seminaries and all other related formation programs for priests and deacons from this Dicastery to the Congregation for the Clergy, which regulates deacons and priests generally, not only their education. The Congregation for Catholic Education retains responsibility for matters pertaining to the structure of seminary curricula in philosophy and theology, in consultation with the Congregation for the Clergy.
History
Pope Sixtus V created the forerunner of the Congregation in 1588, with the Constitution Immensa, to oversee the University of Rome La Sapienza and other notable universities of the time, including Bologna, Paris and Salamanca. Pope Leo XII, in 1824, created the Congregatio studiorum for educational institutions in the Papal States which, in 1870, began to oversee Catholic universities. Pope Saint Pius X confirmed this responsibility in 1908 and Pope Benedict XV erected in 1915 the section for seminaries (which existed within the Consistorial Congregation), joined to it the Congregatio studiorum, and called it Congregatio de Seminariis et Studiorum Universitatibus. In 1967, Pope Paul VI renamed it Sacra Congregatio pro institutione Catholica. The present name "Congregation for Catholic Education (Institutes of Study)" derives from Pope John Paul II's 1988 Apostolic Constitution Pastor Bonus.
The current Cardinal Prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education (since March 31, 2015) is Giuseppe Versaldi. The current Secretary of the Congregation for Catholic Education (since November 9, 2012) is Archbishop Angelo Vincenzo Zani. Father Friedrich Bechina, FSO, is the current Undersecretary.
Offices
To fulfill its mission, this Congregation has two (2) Offices:
1. The Office for Universities (Higher Education), which has a sub-section, the Department for International Organizations (Dipartimento per gli Organismi Internazionali or DOI). This Office has competence over:
2. The Office for Schools.
Competences on Ecclesiastical Higher Education Institutions
The Congregation conducts apostolic visits to Catholic institutions and receives bishops during their quinquennial visits ad limina apostolorum, in order to discuss with local Ordinaries concerns pertaining to Catholic Education in their areas of responsibility.
The Congregation for Catholic Education "erects or approves ecclesiastical universities and institutions, ratifies their statutes, exercises the highest supervision over them and ensures that the integrity of the Catholic faith is preserved in teaching doctrine". Corollary to this, the Dicastery nominates or confirms highest personal academic authorities of Ecclesiastical higher Education institutions, i.e., Rectors, Presidents and Deans. Names of confirmed and appointed Rectors, Presidents and Deans of Institutions belonging to the Higher Education System of the Holy See appear in the Annuario Pontificio at the section on Istituti di Studi Superiori. These are updated yearly.
To this Dicastery belongs also the final authority for the nomination of teachers of ecclesiastical learning institutions to the permanent status and to the highest rank of Ordinaries of the various cathedrae of ecclesiastical disciplines, through the issuance of the rescript granting the nihil obstat for such promotion, on behalf of the Holy See.
Academic collaboration (for the purpose of obtaining the authority to grant canonical degrees in the name of the Holy See) between Ecclesiastical Higher Education institutions that do not have the juridical status as autonomous Ecclesiastical Faculties (i.e., Affiliated, Aggregated, and Incorporated Institutes) and autonomous Ecclesiastical Faculties have to be approved by this Dicastery.
The programmes and other conditions required of Higher Learning Institutions belonging the Higher Education System of the Holy See are regulated by the Apostolic Constitutions Sapientia christiana, and other pertinent normative documents of the Dicastery, such as:
1. Decree of the Congregation for Catholic Education revising the order of studies in the Faculties and Departments of Canon Law (2 September 2002);
2. The Reform of the Higher Institutes of Religious Sciences (28 June 2008), which gives the appropriate norms regarding the pathway of the study of Philosophy and Theology for those who are not preparing to receive the Holy Orders, i.e., for the lay and religious;
3. The Decree on the Reform of Ecclesiastical Studies of Philosophy (28 January 2011), which outlines the current requirements of Ecclesiastical Studies of Philosophy and of the philosophical formation that forms integral part of the Cycle I of Catholic Theology;
4. The normative documents for affiliations, aggregations and incorporations.
National Qualifications Framework of the Ecclesiastical Higher Education System of the Holy See
Since the Holy See is signatory to various International and Regional Agreements in recognition of diplomas and degrees in the field of Higher Education, e.g., the Lisbon Convention and the Asia-Pacific Regional Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications in Higher Education (2011), as part of the process of implementing these international accords, the Congregation for Catholic has followed international guidelines, such as those recommended by the Bologna Process, in order to make transparent its Higher Education System. Among the instruments of this process is the National Qualifications Framework, to which all institutions belonging to the System must conform in order to legitimately and validly grant canonical degrees.
Prefects since 1915
Secretaries since 1913
Documents published by the Congregation for Catholic Education
The complete list of documents pertaining to Catholic Education can be accessed at this link.