View source for Ex corde Ecclesiae

{{Short description|1990 apostolic constitution of the Catholic Church}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2018}}
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'''''{{lang|la|Ex corde Ecclesiae}}''' ({{langx|en|From the heart of the Church}})'' is an [[apostolic constitution]] issued by [[Pope John Paul II]] regarding [[Catholic]] [[college]]s and [[universities]]. [[Promulgation|Promulgated]] on 15 August 1990<ref name="eccvat">[https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_constitutions/documents/hf_jp-ii_apc_15081990_ex-corde-ecclesiae_en.html ''Ex Corde Ecclesiae''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090829201704/https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_constitutions/documents/hf_jp-ii_apc_15081990_ex-corde-ecclesiae_en.html |date=29 August 2009 }} at the Vatican website. Retrieved 16 October 2011.</ref> and intended to become effective in the [[academic year]] starting in 1991, its aim was to define and refine the Catholicism of Catholic institutions of higher education.

Institutions newly claiming to be Catholic would require affirmation from "the [[Holy See]], by an [[Episcopal Conference]] or another Assembly of [[Catholic Church hierarchy|Catholic hierarchy]], or by a [[diocesan bishop]]". Institutions currently claiming to be Catholic are considered Catholic, unless declared otherwise by the same. The document cites canon 810<ref name="eccvat" /> of the [[1983 Code of Canon Law]],<ref name="cic807">[https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P2O.HTM Canons 807–814, Code of Canon Law] Vatican website.  Retrieved 16 October 2011.</ref> which instructs Catholic educational facilities to respect norms established by local bishops. ''Ex corde'' underscores the authority of bishops and mentions that canon law (canon 812)<ref name="cic807" /> requires all teachers of [[theology]], in Catholic colleges and universities, to have the mandate of the local ecclesiastical authority (normally the local bishop).

The apostolic constitution was viewed as a rebuttal to the [[Land O'Lakes Statement]],{{Citation needed|date=July 2019}} a 1967 position paper adopted by the participants of a seminar sponsored by [[University of Notre Dame]] on the role of Catholic universities.<ref name="lol">[http://archives.nd.edu/episodes/visitors/lol/idea.htm] at ''http://www.nd.edu/''. Retrieved 16 October 2011.</ref> Attendees at this American seminar included the presidents of the following universities: the [[University of Notre Dame]], [[Georgetown University|Georgetown]], [[Seton Hall University|Seton Hall]], [[Boston College]], [[Fordham University|Fordham]], [[Saint Louis University|St. Louis University]], and the [[Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico]]. Over a dozen other educators from North American Catholic institutions of higher education were also present.<ref name="lol" />

==Contents==
* Introduction
* Part 1 - Identity and Mission
* Part 2 - General Norms
* Transitional Norms
* Conclusion

==Role of theology==
* "Theology plays a particularly important role in the search for a synthesis of knowledge as well as in the dialogue between faith and reason. It serves all other disciplines in their search for meaning... Because of its specific importance among the academic disciplines, every Catholic University should have a faculty, or at least a chair, of theology" ({{lang|la|Ex Corde Ecclesiae}} §19)

==Impact==
A number of Catholic universities started offering programs in [[Catholic studies]] as a response to the encyclical.<ref name=Fisher>{{cite book |last1=Fisher |first1=James T. |last2=McGuinness|first2=Margaret M.|title=The Catholic Studies Reader |date=2011 |publisher=[[Fordham University Press]] |page=2 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bWdNhHINYCYC&pg=PA2 |access-date=26 April 2023 |chapter=Introduction|isbn=9780823234103 }}</ref> For example, the [[Center for Catholic Studies]] at the [[University of St. Thomas (Minnesota)|University of St. Thomas]] in [[Minnesota]] was founded in 1992.

==See also==
* ''[[Gravissimum educationis]]''
* [[Cardinal Newman Society]], support organization in the United States
* [[Pontifical Catholic University of Peru]]

==References==
{{reflist}}
==Further reading==
* Hahn, L. Michael, O. S. B. "From Communion Toward [[Synodality]]: The Ecclesial Vision of Pope Francis and Its Implications for Catholic Higher Education in the United States" (PhD dissertation, Boston College, 2019) [https://dlib.bc.edu/islandora/object/bc-ir:108477 abstract]

==External links==
*[https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_constitutions/documents/hf_jp-ii_apc_15081990_ex-corde-ecclesiae.html''] English text at ''www.vatican.va''

{{Ex Corde Ecclesiae US Catholic colleges}}
{{John Paul II}}

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[[Category:1990 documents]]
[[Category:1990 in Christianity]]
[[Category:Apostolic constitutions of Pope John Paul II]]
[[Category:Catholic education]]


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