María Rosa Tapia, Uniservitate General Coordinator, delivering to the Pope the last Institutionalization of service-learning book published by the programme
Uniservitate joined 170 representatives of Catholic universities worldwide who participated in Rome in a meeting organized by the International Federation of Catholic Universities (IFCU) to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the institution’s foundation.
Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, the head of the Dicastery for Culture and Education -a unit from the Roman Curia supporting this event- delivered the welcome speech: he spoke about the dialogue between the Church and society in his opening address. At the beginning of a two-day series of workshops and lectures on « The Future of Catholic University on the occasion of the IFCU Centenary », the President of the Federation, Isabel Capeloa Gil, remarked that meetings such as these prove « the unity of Catholic universities born from the heart of the Church ».
During the meetings, rectors from 47 countries addressed the challenges and governance issues that universities face in various contexts and shared their reflections on the future of these institutions.
Uniservitate‘s representation included its general coordinator, María Rosa Tapia; Richard Brosse, Porticus Programme Manager Vital Catholic Thought; and Enrique Ochoa, executive director of CLAYSS. « The celebration of the 100th anniversary of IFCU allowed us to re-encounter rectors with whom we have been working on the institutionalization of service-learning and reaffirm our commitment to continuing collaboration in the consolidation of this international network of Catholic universities, » said Tapia. « The spirit of what we seek through service-learning was present in most presentations and in tune with the Pope’s request to the universities to go forth and meet the community, » she added.
On the second day, the Holy Father received the participants in a private audience in the Consistory Hall of the Apostolic Palace. Francis thanked them « for all the good that our Catholic universities do by communicating knowledge, the word of God and an authentic humanism. »
Representatives of Catholic universities gathered in a private audience with Pope Francis in the Consistory Hall of the Apostolic Palace
In his message, the Pope urged universities to be protagonists in the construction of a culture of peace and to network by globalizing hope, unity and harmony, instead of indifference, polarization and conflict. « Today, there are almost two thousand Catholic universities in our world. We can imagine the potential of more effective and improved working relationships for strengthening the Catholic university system, » he said.
In a different part of his message, the Holy Father recalled that « an educational enterprise is not only based on perfect programmes, efficient equipment or good business practices » and that « it is not enough to award academic degrees: it is necessary to awaken and cherish in each person the desire to ‘be’. » He added: « We need to reflect on artificial intelligence, but also on spiritual intelligence, without which persons remain strangers to themselves. »
Pope also urged Catholic universities to take a clear stand and » ‘get [their] hands dirty’ in the spirit of the Gospel, for the transformation of the world and in service to the human person ». Francis asked the rectors to help the Church « engage confidently in dialogue on the great issues of our time » and « to build intergenerational and intercultural covenants for the protection and care of our common home, within a vision of integral ecology, and in this way respond effectively to the cry of the earth and the plea of the poor ».
Each of those present then had the opportunity to shake hands with the Pope. In turn, María Rosa Tapia presented him with the latest book in the Uniservitate Collection. This book deals with the institutionalization of service-learning, with contributions from leaders of this Programme from the five continents. To María Rosa’s surprise, when the Holy Father received the copy, he looked at her and said: « You all are working very well ». The coordinators of Uniservitate would like to extend this praise to each and every one of the professionals and students who make the strengthening and growth of this global network possible.
