The Vatican has stepped in to close an old debate in
the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (PUCP).
But the authorities
of this institution have decided to rebel once again.
They are not
willing to accept the instructions of the Congregation for Catholic
Education of the Holy See and, still less, from the Cardinal Archbishop
of Lima, Juan Luis Cipriani Thorne.
A revolt that can be costly.
On August 19, the Archbishop of Lima diffused a
letter from the Vatican containing orders to ensure that the house of
studies would be ruled by the laws of its country and by the Apostolic
Constitution "Ex Corde Ecclesiae", the document that regulates all the Catholic universities in the world.
The PUCP represents a rare and unique case. Of the 9
Catholic universities in the South American country, 8 are governed by
the Apostolic Constitution. Only one is not: the Pontifical University.
For this reason and to fulfill the Roman directives,
it will have to normalize its statutes, a reform that its rector,
Marcial Rubio, and the University Assembly do not seem to be willing to
do, despite being the ones who sent the document to Rome for its
approval.
They prefer not to change anything and remain as they have
been until now, with absolute independence from the Archdiocese of Lima,
the last guarantor of Catholicity of that centre of education.
Archbishop Cipriani, despite being formally the Grand
Chancellor, has not been able to show his authority so far. Something
similar has happened with his predecessors since 1972.
The clash of this so-called "rebellious university"
with Church authorities has a long history, created over the last 50
years. In its classrooms have studied the protagonists of social and
political dissent in Peru, of the radical left and "Catholic
progressivism".
It has furthermore welcomed conferences in which
Catholic doctrine has been openly criticized, its defenders attacked,
and the salaries of bishops and Cardinals debated publicly.
One of the "star" professors was Gustavo Gutiérrez
Merino: a Dominican priest known as the father of "liberation theology"
and whose work has been on several occasions under the watchful eyes of
the Vatican, though it has never been condemned by the Congregation for
the Doctrine of the Faith.
With this precedent, during the Seventies of the last
century, a new model for the Catholic University was born: absolute
autonomy, above all ideological and doctrinal. A concept that is not
aligned with the latest statutes approved by the Vatican (from 1967).
But in 1999 John Paul II approved "Ex Corde Ecclesiae"
and asked all Catholic universities to adhere to the document. The PUCP
took more than ten years to send its text to Rome; in November of 2009
it delivered the document that now the Holy See has asked it to modify.
Among other things, the letter from the Congregation
for Catholic Education has requested that the Grand Chancellor (the
Archbishop of Lima) have the power to appoint the Rector of the
University, after having received three proposals from the University
Assembly.
It also indicated that teachers must respect Catholic
doctrine and morals in their research and teaching, while the Peruvian
bishops must participate in university life through the Chancellor, who,
in a sense, would be the Vatican representative.
The Vatican decision was a cold shower to Marcial
Rubio, who has supported the independence of the University Assembly as
the only entity that can appoint the person who will occupy the
Rectorate of the institution and announced that a Commission will be
created that will assess the Vatican's "proposals" before issuing a new
release within 30 days. In addition, Cipriani has been accused of
"making a scandal” because he is “powerless as an orphan".
"From the canonical point of view, it is true that
the Archbishop can deny an institution the right to call itself
Catholic. In any case, the institution will decide whether or not to
remove the name. We are the Pontifical University of Perú and want to
continue as such, but if they take away that name from us, we would see
what the Assembly decides,” said the Rector.
Among students and professors, a campaign has been
created according to which the Archbishop of Lima's interest is to "take
control of the university's millions" and allow "Opus Dei to come in
and direct it." This as a clear citation of the cardinal's affiliation
with the association commonly known as "the Work".
However, the reality is very different: the PUCP was
founded in 1917 thanks to the legacy of a wealthy Peruvian thinker, José
de la Riva-Agüero y Osma, who conditioned his support for the
establishment of a Catholic university. For this reason there is an
article of the "Constitution" of this institution, still in force, that
provides that if it were to disappear, all its assets would be
transferred to the Archbishop of Lima, who should redirect them to
another educational program.
So, if the current leaders still do not listen to the
Vatican's instructions, there is a risk of being left without anything:
they would lose the titles of "Pontifical" and "Catholic" from their
name, as well as resources and land.
"We asked", the Archbishop of Lima stated, "that a
decision be made. I am not accusing anyone of anything, but neither do I
graciously accept those who want to reduce the identity of a university
to certain unfortunate action by its authorities."