CATHOLIC UNIVERSITIES: BEAR WITNESS TO THE FAITH

VATICAN CITY, DEC 5, 2002 (VIS) - At noon today the Pope received the participants in an international conference focusing on the theme, "Globalization and Catholic Universities," organized jointly by the Congregation for Catholic Education and the International Federation of Catholic Universities.

The Holy Father encouraged rectors and professors of Catholic universities all over the world to "be observant of what is promising to man and mankind in scientific and technological progress and also in the phenomena of globalization, but also of the dangers that may exist in the future." In this sense, he referred to topics that directly concern the dignity of the person and man's fundamental rights which "are intimately related to the big questions in bioethics, such as the statute of the human embryo and stem cells, today the object of disturbing experiments and manipulations, not always moral or scientifically justified."

Professors and students, he said, "are called to bear clear witness to their faith before the scientific community, showing their commitment to the truth and their respect for the human person. For Christians, research must in effect be undertaken in the light of faith, rooted in prayer, listening to the Word of God, in Tradition and in the teaching of the Magisterium."

John Paul II emphasized that Catholic universities "have the duty to live the teaching of the Magisterium in the different fields of research in which they are involved, while preserving their scientific autonomy."

The Pope stated that university authorities have the obligation to "be vigilant in maintaining rectitude and Catholic principles in teaching and research in the heart of their university. It is clear that university centers that do not respect the Church's laws and the teaching of the Magisterium, especially in bioethics, cannot be defined as Catholic universities."

The Holy Father concluded by affirming that Catholic universities "are called to be places of dialogue with the whole university world in order that cultural formation and research may be at the service of the common good and of man, who cannot be considered a simple tool for research."

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