View source for Congregation for Catholic Education

{{Short description|Former dicastery of the Roman Curia}}
{{Infobox government agency
| name = Congregation for Catholic Education (for Educational Institutions)
| native_name = {{langx|la|Congregatio de Institutione Catholica (Studiorum Institutis)}}
| type = Congregation
| seal = Coat of arms Holy See.svg
| seal_size = 100px
| seal_caption = Coat of arms of the Holy See
| logo = 
| picture =Via della Conciliazione din Roma1.jpg
| picture_caption = Palazzo delle Congregazioni in Piazza Pio XII (in front of [[St. Peter's Square]]) is the workplace for most congregations of the Roman Curia
| parent_department = 
| website =http://www.educatio.va/
| agency_type = [[Congregation (Roman Curia)|Congregation]]
| formed = {{start date|1588|01|22}}
| dissolved = {{end date|2022|05|05}}
| superseding1 = [[Dicastery for Culture and Education]]
| preceding1 =Congregatio pro universitate studii romani
| preceding2 =Congregatio studiorum 
| preceding3 =Congregatio de Seminariis et Studiorum Universitatibus
| preceding4 =Sacra Congregatio pro institutione Catholica
| preceding5 =Congregation for Catholic Education (for Seminaries and Institutes of Study)
| jurisdiction = 
| headquarters = [[Palazzo delle Congregazioni]], [[Piazza Pio XII]], [[Rome]], [[Italy]]
| employees = 
| budget = 
| chief1_name = 
| chief1_position =
| chief2_name = 
| chief2_position = 
| chief3_name = 
| chief3_position = 
| chief4_name =
| chief4_position =
| chief5_name = 
| chief5_position = 
| chief6_name = 
| chief6_position = 
| chief7_name = 
| chief7_position = 
| chief8_name = 
| chief8_position = 
| chief9_name = 
| chief9_position = 
}}
{{Roman Curia sidebar}}

The '''Congregation for Catholic Education (Institutes of Study)''' ({{Langx|la|Congregatio de Institutione Catholica (Studiorum Institutis)}}) was the pontifical [[congregation (Roman Curia)|congregation]] of the [[Roman Curia]] responsible for: universities, faculties, institutes and higher schools of study, either ecclesial or non-ecclesiastical dependent on ecclesial persons; and schools and educational institutes depending on ecclesiastical authorities.

It was also in charge of regulating seminaries, which prepare those students intending to become priests (seminarians) for ordination to the presbyterate, until 16 January 2013 when [[Pope Benedict XVI]]<ref>[https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/la/motu_proprio/documents/hf_ben-xvi_motu-proprio_20130116_ministrorum-institutio.html Apostolic Letter (Motu proprio) ''Ministrorum institutio'']</ref> transferred the oversight of seminaries and all other related formation programs for priests and deacons from this dicastery to the [[Congregation for the Clergy]], which regulates deacons and priests generally, not only their education. The Congregation for Catholic Education retains responsibility for matters pertaining to the structure of seminary curricula in philosophy and theology, in consultation with the Congregation for the Clergy.<ref>[https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/la/motu_proprio/documents/hf_ben-xvi_motu-proprio_20130116_ministrorum-institutio.html Apostolic Letter (Motu proprio) ''Ministrorum institutio'']</ref>

When the Apostolic constitution ''[[Praedicate evangelium]]'' promulgated by [[Pope Francis]] took effect on 5 May 2022, the Congregation for Catholic Education was merged with the [[Pontifical Council for Culture]] to create the new [[Dicastery for Culture and Education]].<ref name=dicast>{{cite news | access-date = 8 June 2022 | work = Vatican News | date = 5 June 2022 | url = https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2022-06/dicastery-culture-education-praedicate-evangelium.html | title = The Dicastery for Culture and Education }}</ref>

==History==
[[Pope Sixtus V]] created the forerunner of the Congregation in 1588 with the Constitution ''Immensa,'' to oversee the [[University of Rome La Sapienza]] and other notable universities of the time, including [[University of Bologna|Bologna]], [[University of Paris|Paris]], and [[University of Salamanca|Salamanca]]. In 1824 [[Pope Leo XII]] created the ''Congregatio studiorum'' for educational institutions in the [[Papal States]], which in 1870 began to oversee Catholic universities. [[Pope Pius X]] confirmed this responsibility in 1908 and [[Pope Benedict XV]] erected in 1915 the section for seminaries (which existed within the Consistorial Congregation), joined to it the ''Congregatio studiorum,'' and called it ''Congregatio de Seminariis et Studiorum Universitatibus.'' In 1967, [[Pope Paul VI]] renamed it ''Sacra Congregatio pro institutione Catholica.'' The present name "Congregation for Catholic Education (Institutes of Study)" derives from [[Pope John Paul II]]'s 1988 [[Apostolic Constitution]] ''[[Pastor Bonus]]''.{{Cn|date=October 2021}}

==Offices==
{{More citations needed|section|date=October 2021}}
To fulfill its mission, this congregation has two offices:

1. The '''Office for Universities''' (Higher Education) with the sub-section Department for International Organizations (''Dipartimento per gli Organismi Internazionali'' or DOI). This Office has competence over:

* '''Ecclesiastical''', which are governed by Pope Francis' Apostolic Constitution ''Veritatis Gaudium'' (29 January 2018)<ref>{{cite web| author=Pope Francis|title=Veritatis Gaudium | date= 29 January 2018 | publisher =Libreria Editrice Vaticana |url=https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2018/01/29/180129c.html|access-date=25 March 2018}}</ref> (replacing the previous constitution, ''Sapientia christiana'' of 1979<ref>[https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_constitutions/documents/hf_jp-ii_apc_15041979_sapientia-christiana.html The Apostolic Constitution ''Sapientia christiana'']</ref>) and which are tasked "to carry out the ministry of evangelization given to the Church by Christ" by "fostering and teaching sacred doctrine and the sciences connected therewith", for example Theology, Philosophy, and Canon Law, (''Veritatis Gaudium'', articles I-II); and
* '''Non-ecclesiastical''' offerings in secular sciences that are dependent on ecclesiastical persons, which are governed by John Paul II's Apostolic Constitution ''Ex corde Ecclesiae'' (15 August 1990)<ref>[https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_constitutions/documents/hf_jp-ii_apc_15081990_ex-corde-ecclesiae.html The Apostolic Constitution ''Ex corde Ecclesiae'']</ref> as well as by the pertinent civil laws of countries in which they are located.

2. '''The Office for Schools'''.

==Competences on Ecclesiastical Higher Education Institutions==
{{More citations needed|section|date=October 2021}}
The Congregation conducts apostolic visits to Catholic institutions and receives bishops during their [[Quinquennial Visit Ad Limina|quinquennial visits]] ''ad limina apostolorum'', in order to discuss with local Ordinaries concerns pertaining to Catholic Education in their areas of responsibility.

The Congregation for Catholic Education ''"''erects or approves ecclesiastical universities and institutions, ratifies their statutes, exercises the highest supervision over them, and ensures that the integrity of the Catholic faith is preserved in teaching doctrine."<ref>[https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_constitutions/documents/hf_jp-ii_apc_19880628_pastor-bonus.html#CONGREGATIONS Apostolic constitution ''Pastor Bonus'', Art. 116 § 2.]</ref> Corollary to this, the dicastery nominates or confirms highest personal academic authorities of Ecclesiastical higher Education institutions,<ref>"The Rector and the President are named, or at least confirmed, by the Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education." Apostolic Constitution ''Sapientia christiana'', Art. 18.</ref> [[i.e.]], [[Rector (ecclesiastical)|rector]]s, presidents and deans.<ref>"The academic authorities are personal and collegial. Personal authorities are, in the first place, the Rector or President and the Dean." Apostolic Constitution ''Sapientia chrisitana'', Art. 15.</ref> Names of confirmed and appointed rectors, presidents and deans of Institutions belonging to the Higher Education System of the Holy See appear in the [[Annuario Pontificio]] at the section on ''Istituti di Studi Superiori''. These are updated yearly.

To this dicastery belongs also the final authority for the nomination of teachers of ecclesiastical learning institutions to the permanent status and to the highest rank of [[Professor (highest academic rank)|Ordinaries]] of the various ''cathedrae'' of ecclesiastical disciplines, through the issuance of the rescript granting the ''nihil obstat'' for such promotion, on behalf of the Holy See.<ref>"All teachers, before they are given a permanent post or before they are promoted to the highest category of teacher, or else in both cases, as the Statutes are to state, must receive a declaration of nihil obstat from the Holy See." Apostolic Constitution ''Sapientia christiana'', Art. 27, n.2.</ref>

Academic collaboration (for the purpose of obtaining the authority to grant canonical degrees in the name of the Holy See) between Ecclesiastical Higher Education institutions that do not have the juridical status as autonomous Ecclesiastical Faculties ([[i.e.]], Affiliated,<ref>Affiliation is an academic collaboration for the granting of Cycle I or Baccalaureate degree. "The conditions for affiliation regard, above all, the number and qualification of teachers, the study program, the library, and the duty of the affiliating Faculty to help the institution being affiliated. Therefore, this is usually granted only when the affiliating Faculty and the affiliated institution are in the same country or cultural region." Apostolic Constitution ''Sapientia christiana'', Ordinationes, Art. 47.</ref> Aggregated,<ref>"Aggregation is the linking with a Faculty of some Institute which embraces only the first and second cycle, for the purpose of granting the degrees corresponding to those cycles through the Faculty."  Apostolic Constitution ''Sapientia christiana'', Ordinationes, Art. 48, n. 1.</ref> and Incorporated<ref>"Incorporation is the insertion into a Faculty of some Institute which embraces either the second or third cycle or both, for the purpose of granting the corresponding degrees through the Faculty." Apostolic Constitution ''Sapientia christiana'', Ordinationes, Art. 48, n. 2.</ref> Institutes) and autonomous Ecclesiastical Faculties have to be approved by this dicastery.

The programmes and other conditions<ref>"The necessary prerequisites are...: permanently engaged teachers who in number and quality respond to the nature and demands of a Faculty; a suitable number of students; a library with scientific apparatus and suitable buildings; economic means really sufficient for a University or Faculty; the Statutes, together with the Study Program, be exhibited, which are in conformity to the Constitution and to [its] Norms of Application." Apostolic Constitution ''Sapientia christiana'', Ordinationes, Art. 45, n. 1b-c.</ref> required of Higher Learning Institutions belonging the Higher Education System of the Holy See are regulated by the Apostolic Constitutions ''Sapientia christiana'', and other pertinent normative documents of the dicastery, such as:

1. ''Decree of the Congregation for Catholic Education revising the order of studies in the Faculties and Departments of Canon Law'' (2 September 2002);<ref>[https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccatheduc/documents/rc_con_ccatheduc_doc_20021114_decree-canon-law_en.html ''Decree of the Congregation for Catholic Education revising the order of studies in the Faculties and Departments of Canon Law'' (2 September 2002)]</ref>

2. ''The Reform of the Higher Institutes of Religious Sciences'' (28 June 2008),<ref>[https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccatheduc/documents/rc_con_ccatheduc_doc_20080628_istruzione_en.html ''The Reform of the Higher Institutes of Religious Sciences'' (28 June 2008)]</ref> which gives the appropriate norms regarding the pathway of the study of Philosophy and Theology for those who are not preparing to receive the Holy Orders, i.e., for the lay and religious;

3. ''The Decree on the Reform of Ecclesiastical Studies of Philosophy'' (28 January 2011),<ref>[https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccatheduc/documents/rc_con_ccatheduc_doc_20110128_dec-rif-filosofia_en.html ''The Decree on the Reform of Ecclesiastical Studies of Philosophy''(28 January 2011)]</ref> which outlines the current requirements of Ecclesiastical Studies of Philosophy and of the philosophical formation that forms integral part of the Cycle I of Catholic Theology;

4. The normative documents for affiliations, aggregations and incorporations.<ref>[http://www.educatio.va/content/cec/it/documentazione-e-materiali/documenti-della-congregazione.html Documents of the Congregation for Catholic Education]</ref>

== National Qualifications Framework of the Ecclesiastical Higher Education System of the Holy See==
The [[Holy See]] is signatory to various international and regional agreements in recognition of diplomas and degrees in the field of Higher Education, such as the [[Lisbon Convention]] and the ''Asia-Pacific Regional Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications in Higher Education'' (2011).<ref>[http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=48975&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html ''Asia-Pacific Regional Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications in Higher Education''] (2011)</ref>  As part of the process of implementing these international accords, the Congregation for Catholic Education has followed international guidelines, such as those recommended by the [[Bologna Process]], in order to make transparent its Higher Education System. Among the instruments of this process is the [[National Qualifications Framework]], to which all institutions belonging to the System must conform in order to legitimately and validly grant canonical degrees.<ref>[http://www.educatio.va/content/cec/it/studi-superiori-della-santa-sede/quadro-nazionale-delle-qualifiche/qualifications-framework.html Quadro Nazionale delle Qualifiche della Santa Sede]</ref>

==Leadership==
{{More citations needed|section|date=October 2021}}
Cardinal [[Giuseppe Versaldi]] had been the Prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education since 31 March 2015.<ref>{{cite press release| url= http://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2015/03/31/0230/00512.html |title= Rinunce e nomine, 31.03.2015 | publisher=Holy See Press Office | language = it | access-date=7 May 2018 | date= 31 March 2015}}</ref> Archbishop [[Angelo Vincenzo Zani]] has been the Secretary since 9 November 2012.<ref>{{cite press release| url= http://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2012/11/09/0644/01473.html |title= Rinunce e nomine, 09.11.2012 | publisher=Holy See Press Office | language = it | access-date=7 May 2018 | date= 9 November 2012}}</ref> Father Friedrich Bechina, FSO, has been the Undersecretary.<ref>{{cite press release| url= http://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2013/02/15/0100/00267.html |title= Rinunce e nomine, 15.02.2013 | publisher=Holy See Press Office | language = it | access-date=7 May 2018 | date= 15 February 2013}}</ref>

===Prefects since 1915===
*[[Gaetano Bisleti]] (1915-1937)
*[[Giuseppe Pizzardo]] (1939-1968)
*[[Gabriel-Marie Garrone]] (1968-1980)
*[[William Wakefield Baum]] (1980-1990)
*[[Pio Laghi]] (pro-prefect 1990-1991, prefect 1991-1999)
*[[Zenon Grocholewski]] (1999-2015)
*[[Giuseppe Versaldi]] (2015-2022)

===Secretaries since 1913===
*[[Giacomo Sinibaldi]] (15 May 1913 – 1928)
*[[Ernesto Ruffini]] (28 October 1928 – 11 October 1945)
*[[Giuseppe Rossino]] (1945 – 31 December 1949)
*[[Carlo Confalonieri]] (25 January 1950 – 15 December 1958)
*[[Dino Staffa]] (18 December 1958 – 7 April 1967)
*[[Joseph Schröffer]] (17 May 1967 – 20 May 1976)
*[[Antonio María Javierre Ortas]], S.D.B. (20 May 1976 – 26 May 1988)
*[[José Saraiva Martins]], C.M.F. (26 May 1988 – 30 May 1998)
*[[Giuseppe Pittau]], S.J. (11 July 1998 – 25 November 2003)
*[[John Michael Miller]], C.S.B. (25 November 2003 – 1 June 2007)
*[[Jean-Louis Bruguès]], O.P. (10 November 2007 – 26 June 2012)
*[[Angelo Vincenzo Zani]] (9 November 2012 – 5 June 2022)

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Documents published by the Congregation for Catholic Education==
*''[https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccatheduc/documents/rc_con_ccatheduc_doc_20110128_dec-rif-filosofia_en.html Decree on the Reform of Ecclesiastical Studies of Philosophy]'' (2011)
*''[https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccatheduc/documents/rc_con_ccatheduc_doc_20080628_orientamenti_en.html Guidelines on the Use of Psychology in the Admission and Formation of Candidates for the Priesthood]'' (2008)
*''[https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccatheduc/documents/rc_con_ccatheduc_doc_20080628_istruzione_en.html Reform of the Higher Institutes of Religious Sciences]'' (2008)
*''[https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccatheduc/documents/rc_con_ccatheduc_doc_20070908_educare-insieme_en.html Educating Together in Catholic Schools. A Shared Mission between Consecrated Persons and the Lay Faithful]'' (2007)
*''[[Instruction Concerning the Criteria for the Discernment of Vocations with regard to Persons with Homosexual Tendencies in view of their Admission to the Seminary and to Holy Orders]]'' (2005)

The complete list of documents pertaining to Catholic Education can be accessed at this link.<ref>[http://www.educatio.va/content/cec/it/documentazione-e-materiali.html Documents on Catholic Education]</ref>

==External links==
*[https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccatheduc/index.htm Webpage of the Congregation for Catholic Education at the Vatican website]
*[http://www.educatio.va/content/cec/it.html Website of the Higher Education System of the Catholic Church]
*[http://www.gcatholic.org/dioceses/romancuria/d11.htm GCatholic.org]

{{Catholic youth work}}
{{Roman Curia footer}}
{{portal bar|Catholicism|Education|Vatican City}}
{{authority control}}
[[Category:Congregation for Catholic Education| ]]
[[Category:1588 establishments in the Papal States]]
[[Category:Religious organizations established in the 1580s]]
[[Category:Catholic organizations established in the 16th century]]