JOHN PAUL II VISITS "POPE'S UNIVERSITY"

VATICAN CITY, NOV 16, 1999 (VIS) - The Holy Father this morning visited the Pontifical Lateran University, where, in the course of a 90-minute visit, he inaugurated the academic year and blessed the university's new atrium and other new or restored halls.

In his talk to the chancellor, rector, teachers and students of the Lateran, in addition to invited guests from other ecclesiastical and state-run universities, the Pope said that "in the modern era, the Illuminist reform of the university wished to answer the basic questions about man and his destiny, leaving Revelation out of consideration. In many cases theology saw itself expelled, so to speak, from the academic institutions, after having been at their center for centuries."

"In the current context, nevertheless, the re-dimensioning of the exclusivist pretexts of reason and the well-known aridness of agnostic relativism seem to place once again the research on the integrality of 'humanum' at the center of the attention of universities."

The Holy Father remarked that "as legitimate heirs of the academic tradition of medieval schools, 'ecclesiastical' universities are called to become protagonists of this re-awakening."

He highlighted the faculties and institutes which are part of the Lateran University. The theology faculty, he said, "is called to take on the constant tension of the 'intellectus fidei' and to penetrate ever more deeply the mystery of God and to propose it in the 'language' of the current generation.

"The philosophy faculty has to deal with, on the one hand, the continual development of the sciences of nature and man and, on the other, with the disappearance of a higher level of reflection."

The Holy Father then made brief remarks on the Pontifical Utriusque Iuris Institute and its study of civil and ecclesiastical law, the Redemptor Hominis Pontifical Pastoral Institute, dedicated to the social doctrine of the Church, and the John Paul II Pontifical Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family.

In closing remarks, John Paul II reminded the faculty and students that the Lateran university "has the honor and burden of having the special title of 'the Pope's university'. Always take to heart the creative and dynamic unity between faith and 'intellectus fidei'."

JPII-VISIT LATERAN UNIVERSITY;...;...;...;VIS;19991116;Word: 370;