Sapientia christiana

By the term University or Faculty is understood also those Athenaea, Institutes, or Academic Centers which have been canonically erected or approved by the Holy See with the right to confer academic degrees by the authority of the same See.

With a view to promoting scientific research, a strong recommendation is given for specialized research centers, scientific periodicals and collections, and meetings of learned societies.

The tasks for which students can be prepared can be either strictly scientific, such as research or teaching, or else pastoral. Account must be taken of this diversity in the ordering of the studies and in the determining of the academic degrees, while always preserving the scientific nature of the studies for both.

Active participation in the ministry of evangelization concerns the action of the Church in pastoral work, in ecumenism, and in missionary undertakings. It also extends to the understanding, defense, and diffusion of the faith. At the same time it extends to the whole context of culture and human society.

Bishops' Conferences, joined to the Apostolic See in these matters also, are thus to follow carefully the Universities and Faculties:

In preparing the Statutes and Study Program, the norms in Appendix I of these directives must be kept in mind.

n. 1. The canonical value of an academic degree means that such a degree enables one to assume an office in the Church for which a degree is required. This is, first of all, for teaching sacred sciences in Faculties, major seminaries, or equivalent schools. n. 2. The condition to be fulfilled for the recognition of individual degrees mentioned in article 9 of the Apostolic Constitution, concern, first of all, besides the consent of the local or regional ecclesiastical authorities, the college of teachers, the study program, and the scientific helps used. n. 3. Degrees thus recognized, for certain canonical effects only may never be considered simply as equal to canonical degrees.

The duty of the Chancellor is:

If the University or Faculty depends upon a collegial entity (for instance, on an Episcopal Conference), one designated member of the group is to exercise the office of Chancellor.

The local Ordinary, if he is not the Chancellor, since he has the pastoral responsibility for his Diocese, is, whenever something in the University or Faculty is known to be contrary to doctrine, morals, or ecclesiastical discipline, to take the matter to the Chancellor so that the latter may take action. In case the Chancellor does nothing, the Ordinary may have recourse to the Holy See, without prejudice to his own obligation to provide personally for action in those cases which are more serious or urgent and which carry danger for his Diocese.

What is contained in article 19 of the Constitution must be explained further in the proper Statutes of the individual Faculties, giving more weight, as the case may require, either to collegial or else to personal government, while always preserving both forms. Account should be taken of the university practice of the region where the Faculty is located or of the Religious Institute on which the Faculty may depend.

Besides the University Council (Academic Senate) and the Faculty Council, both of which must everywhere exist even if under different names, the Statutes can suitably establish other special councils or commissions for scientific learning, teaching, discipline, finances, etc.

n. 1. According to the Constitution, a Rector is one who presides over a University; a President is one who presides over an Institute or a Faculty which exists separately; a Dean is one who presides over a Faculty which is a part of a University. n. 2. The Statutes are to fix a term of office for these persons (for instance, three years) and are to determine how and how many times their term can be renewed.

The office of the Rector or President is:

The Dean of the Faculty is:

n. 1. Teachers who are permanently attached to a Faculty are, in the first place, those who are assumed in full and firm right and who are called Ordinary Professors; next come Extraordinary Professors. It can also be useful to have others according to university practice. n. 2. Besides permanent teachers, there are other teachers who are designated by various titles, in the first place, those invited from other Faculties. n. 3. Finally, it is also opportune to have Teaching Assistants to carry out certain academic functions.

By a suitable doctorate is meant one that corresponds to the discipline that is being taught. If the discipline is sacred or connected with the sacred, the doctorate must be canonical. In the event that the doctorate is not canonical, the teacher will usually be required to have at least a canonical licentiate.

Non - Catholic teachers, co - opted according to the norms of competent ecclesiastical authority,(1) require permission to teach from the Chancellor.

n. 1. The Statutes must establish when a permanent status is conferred in relationship with the obtaining of the nihil obstat that must be procured in accordance with article 27 of the Constitution. n. 2. The nihil obstat of the Holy See is the declaration that, in accordance with the Constitution and the special Statutes, there is nothing to impede a nomination which is proposed. If some impediment should exist, this will be communicated to the Chancellor who will listen to the teacher in regard to the matter. n. 3. If particular circumstances of time or place impede the requesting of the nihil obstat from the Holy See, the Chancellor is to take counsel with the Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education to find a suitable solution. n. 4. In Faculties which are under special concordat law the established norms are to be followed.

The time interval between promotions, which must be at least three years, is to be set down in the Statutes.

n. 1. Teachers, first of all the permanent ones, are to seek to collaborate with each other. It is also recommended that there be collaboration with the teachers of other Faculties, especially those with subjects that have an affinity or some connection with those of the Faculty. n. 2. One cannot be at one and the same time a permanent teacher in more than one Faculty.

n. 1. The Statutes are to set out with care the procedure in regard to the suspension or dismissal of a teacher, especially in matters concerning doctrine. n. 2. Care must be taken that, first of all, these matters be settled between the Rector or President or Dean and the teacher himself. If they are not settled there, the matters should be dealt with by an appropriate Council or committee, so that the first examination of the facts be carried out within the University or Faculty itself. If this is not sufficient, the matters are to be referred to the Chancellor, who, with the help of experts, either of the University or the Faculty or from other places, must consider the matter and provide for a solution. The possibility remains open for recourse to the Holy See for a definitive solution, always allowing the teacher to explain and defend himself. n. 3. However, in more grave or urgent cases for the good of the students and the faithful, the Chancellor can suspend the teacher for the duration of the regular procedure.

Diocesan priests and Religious or those equivalent to Religious from whatever Institute, in order to be teachers in a Faculty or to remain as such, must have the consent of their proper Ordinary or Religious Superior, following the norms established in these matters by competent Church authority.

1. Legal testimony, according to the norm of article 31 of the Constitution: 1) about a moral life is to be given, for clergy and seminarians, their own Ordinary or his delegate; for all other persons by some ecclesiastic; 2) about previous studies in the study title required in accordance with article 32 of the Constitution. n. 2. Since the studies required before entry into a University differ from one country to another, the Faculty has the right and duty to investigate whether all the disciplines have been studied which the Faculty itself considers necessary. n. 3. A suitable knowledge of the Latin language is required for the Faculties of the sacred sciences, so that the students can understand and use the sources and the documents of the Church.(2) n. 4. If one of the disciplines has been found not to have been studied or to have been studied in an insufficient way, the Faculty is to require that this be made up at a suitable time and verified by an examination.

n. 1. Besides ordinary students, that is, those studying for academic degrees, extraordinary students can be admitted according to the norms determined in the Statutes. n. 2. A person can be enrolled as an ordinary student in only one Faculty at a time.

The transfer of a student from one Faculty to another can take place only at the beginning of the academic year or semester, after a careful examination of his academic and disciplinary situation. But in any event nobody can be given an academic degree unless all the requirements for the degree are fulfilled as the Statutes of the Faculty demand.

In the norms which determine the suspension or the expulsion of a student from a Faculty, the student's right to defend himself must be safeguarded.

In the Statutes or in some other suitable document of the University or Faculty, the rights and duties of the Officials and Staff Assistants should be determined, as well as their participation in the community life of the University.

The Statutes of each Faculty must define which disciplines (principal and auxiliary) are obligatory and must be followed by all, and which are free or optional.

Equally, the Statutes are to determine the practical exercises and seminars in which the students must not only be present but also actively work together with their colleagues and produce their own expositions.

The lectures and practical exercises are to be suitably distributed so as to foster private study and personal work under the guidance of the teachers.

n. 1. The Statutes are also to determine in what way the examiners are to make their judgments about candidates. n. 2. In the final judgment about the candidates for the individual academic degrees, account is to be taken of all the marks received in the various tests in the same cycle, whether written or oral. n. 3. In the examinations for the giving of degrees, especially the doctorate, it is also useful to invite examiners from outside the Faculty.

The Statutes are to indicate the permanent curricula of studies which are to be instituted in a Faculty for special purposes and indicate the diplomas which are conferred at their conclusion.

In Ecclesiastical Universities or Faculties which are canonically erected or approved, the academic degrees are given in the name of the Supreme Pontiff.

The Statutes are to establish the necessary requisites for the preparation of the doctrinal dissertation and the norms for their public defense and publication.

A copy of the published dissertation must be sent to the Sacred congregation for Catholic Education. It is recommended that copies also be sent to other Ecclesiastical Faculties, at least those of the same region, which deal with the same science.

Authentic documents regarding the conferring of degrees are to be signed by the Academic Authorities, according to the Statutes, and then are to be countersigned by the Secretary of the University or Faculty and have the appropriate seal affixed.

Honorary doctorates are not to be conferred except with the consent of the Chancellor, who, having listened to the opinion of the University or Faculty Council, has obtained the nihil obstat of the Holy See.

The University or Faculty must have lecture halls which are truly functional and worthy and suited to the teaching of the disciplines and to the number of students.

There must be a library open for consultation, in which the principle works for the scientific work of the teachers and students are available.

Library norms are to be established in such a way that access and use is made easy for the students and teachers.

Cooperation and coordination between libraries of the same city and region should be fostered.

To provide for continuous good administration, the authorities must inform themselves at set times about the financial situation and they must provide for careful, periodic audits.

n. 1. Suitable ways should be found so that tuition fees do not keep from academic degrees gifted students who give good hope of one day being useful to the Church. n. 2. Therefore care must be taken to set up forms of assistance for scholars, whatever their various names (scholarships, study burses, student subsidies, etc.), to be given to needy students.

n. 1. In order to undertake the erection of a new University or Faculty, it is necessary that:a) a true need or usefulness can be demonstrated, which cannot be satisfied either by affiliation, aggregation, or incorporation,b) the necessary prerequisites are present, which are mainly:1) permanently engaged teachers who in number and quality respond to the nature and demands of a Faculty; 2) a suitable number of students; 3) a library with scientific apparatus and suitable buildings; 4) economic means really sufficient for a University or Faculty;c) the Statutes, together with the Study Program, be exhibited, which are in conformity to the Constitution and to these Norms of Application.n. 2. The Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education - after listening to the advice first of the Bishops' Conference, mainly from the pastoral viewpoint, and next of experts, principally from nearby Faculties, mainly from the scientific viewpoint - will decide about the suitability of a new erection. This is commonly conceded at first experimentally for a period of time before being definitely confirmed.

When, on the other hand, the approval of a University or Faculty is undertaken, this is to be done:a) after the consent of both the Episcopal Conference and the local diocesan authority is obtained;b) after the conditions stated in article 45, n. 1, under b) and c) are fulfilled.

The conditions for affiliation regard, above all, the number and qualification of teachers, the study program, the library, and the duty of the affiliating Faculty to help the institution being affiliated. Therefore, this is usually granted only when the affiliating Faculty and the affiliated institution are in the same country or cultural region.

n. 1. Aggregation is the linking with a Faculty of some Institute which embraces only the first and second cycle, for the purpose of granting the degrees corresponding to those cycles through the Faculty. n. 2. Incorporation is the insertion into a Faculty of some Institute which embraces either the second or third cycle or both, for the purpose of granting the corresponding degrees through the Faculty. n. 3. Aggregation and incorporation cannot be granted unless the Institute is specially equipped to grant degrees in such a way that there is a well - founded hope that, through the connection with the Faculty, the desired ends will be achieved.

n. 1. Cooperation is to be fostered among the Ecclesiastical Faculties themselves by means of teacher exchanges, mutual communication of scientific work, and the promoting of common research for the benefit of the People of God. n.2. Cooperation with other Faculties, even those of non - Catholics, should be promoted, care always however being taken to preserve one's own identity.