Last Updated:Friday - 09/24/2010

Higher education fires the heart of the Church

When Pope John Paul II issued an apostolic constitution on Catholic higher education in 1990, he aptly named it Ex Corde Ecclesiae - From the Heart of the Church. It's an apt title in various ways.

First, higher education literally did emerge from the heart of the Church. It was the quest of faith for understanding that led to the creation of the first universities. The secular notion that faith is merely subjective is far from the truth. Faith in the incarnate God is also faith in reason. Few things are closer to the heart of the Church than the search for truth through reason.

Second, Catholic higher education is not just about the mind. It must also engage the heart. In a talk at the University of St. Michael's College in Toronto last May, Archbishop Thomas Collins put it succinctly: "In a Catholic university, the pathway to the library and the classroom must go by way of the chapel." Academic formation must be part of a larger scheme of formation of the whole person.

Third, Catholic higher education is not only from the heart of the Church, it is also to the heart of the Church. If some of the erudite questions faced by academics seem remote from the lives of ordinary people, the contribution of colleges and universities to the pastoral life of the Church should never be underestimated.

In Alberta, our pastoral life would be immeasurably poorer if not for the ongoing contributions of St. Joseph's College at the U of A, Newman Theological College, St. Joseph Seminary and St. Mary's University College. These institutions have formed the priests and teachers, religious and laity of the Church in this province.

If it sometimes seems that those institutions are accepted as part of the ecclesial woodwork in Alberta, there is also no doubt about the esteem with which the faithful regard the seminary and these colleges. Over the last 15 years or so, the Catholics of southern Alberta have put forth a mammoth effort to establish and build their Catholic college. Likewise, the three Edmonton-based institutions have received long-term ongoing support. Now we are seeing an even-greater outpouring of generosity as Catholics sacrifice their hard-earned dollars to build a new seminary and Newman College.

These sacrifices not only ensure that these institutions will thrive into the future, they are an investment in the Church itself. We need those colleges and seminary to foster the internal growth of the Church and to foster respect for knowledge based on the twin pillars of faith and reason. We also need them to help graciously defend the Church from growing attacks from an uncomprehending secular culture.

Catholic higher education is the heart of the Church. When the heart is healthy, the whole Body of Christ will be healthy too.

Glen Argan

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