Pontifical University of the Holy Cross
Pontifical University of the Holy Cross is a Roman Catholic university under the Curial Congregation for Catholic Education, which it has entrusted to the Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei, or more commonly called Opus Dei. Located in Rome, its stated mission is "to serve the whole Church by means of a broad and thorough work of research and formation in the ecclesiastical sciences, cooperating according to its special function with the evangelizing mission of the Church in the whole world."
The University is open to priests, seminarians, religious and lay people, both men and women.
Origins
The university was an idea of the founder of Opus Dei, St. Josemaría Escrivá. His successor as head of Opus Dei, Bishop Alvaro del Portillo obtained the necessary approval from the Holy See, for it to begin during the school year 1984-85. Escrivá had a great devotion to the Roman Pontiff, whom he viewed as Il dolce Cristo in terra, "the sweet Christ on earth," as St. Catherine of Siena used to say. Thus, he had a great love for the city of Rome and wanted to "romanize" Opus Dei and many other people so that they will always be Catholic or universal in their way of thinking.
Faculty
A distinctive element in the university is that most of the members of the academic staff hold degrees from both secular and ecclesiastical universities. It offers an ongoing formation both to its academic staff to students, providing them with information current issues. The ratio of academic staff to students in one to nine. The members of the faculty know and use at least five major modern languages (Italian, English, Spanish, French, and German) which enables them to fulfill their academic task of teaching an international student body coming from different continents, culture and language groups.
Courses
The Pontifical University of the Holy Cross offers university courses in ecclesiastical sciences. It now has four Schools: Theology, Canon Law, Philosophy, and Social Institutional Communication. It also has a Higher Institute of Religious Sciences which has correpondence learning.
Research and publications
During the academic year 2005-06, 40 books by facullty members and 78 doctoral theses were published.
The scientific journals of the university are:
- Annales Theologici
- Ius Ecclesiae
- Acta Philosophica.
Enrollment and other data
For the school year 2006-07, the University has over 1500 students enrolled from 77 countries. The Pontifical University of the Holy Cross is supported financially by the contributions of many benefactors, including non-Christians.
The university is located at Piazza di Sant'Apollinare 49, Rome.
The present Chancellor of the Pontifical University is the Prelate of Opus Dei, Bishop Javier Echevarría.
References and external links
- Pontifical University of the Holy Cross -- official website of the university
- Pontifical University of the Holy Cross Foundation