Faculty Handbook Part IV
Canonical Statutes of the Ecclesiastical Faculties
Contents
Section I: Preamble and General Statutes
Preamble and General Statutes
1. Among the Schools of The Catholic University of America, the following have the canonical status of ecclesiastical faculties: The School of Philosophy, the Department of Canon Law (School of Religious Studies), and Department of Theology (School of Religious Studies). These Faculties, however, are not exclusively ecclesiastical; they also have other academic programs which do not have canonical effects and to which these Statutes do not apply.
2. The Faculties have been canonically approved by the Apostolic See, foster and teach sacred doctrine and the disciplines related to it, and have the right to confer academic degrees by the authority of the Apostolic See (Sapientia christiana 2).
3. The Faculties are governed by the general policies and regulations of the University, with specific allowance for the matters governed by these Statutes or by norms of the Apostolic See pertinent to ecclesiastical programs of study.
4. The programs of the Faculties that have canonical effects are also recognized civilly, and the respective degrees are also conferred in virtue of the incorporation of the University by authority of the Congress of the United States of America (1887 and 1928).
5. The Faculties share in the University's recognition by the American academic community, in virtue of its accreditation by the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools and its membership in the Association of American Universities and the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities.
6. With regard to programs that have exclusively civil effects, the Faculties have regulations proper to them, adopted in accord with University policies and regulations.
7. The Faculties observe the decisions of the Second Vatican Council affecting higher education, in particular the pastoral constitution Gaudium et spes 53‑62 and the declaration Gravissimum educationis, as well as the Code of Canon Law, canons 815‑821, and the apostolic constitution Sapientia christiana (April 15, 1979), together with the related Ordinationes (April 29, 1979). In relation to the ministerial education of candidates for the presbyterate, they also observe the conciliar decree Optatam totius and postconciliar documents of implementation, in particular the Code of Canon Law, canons 232‑264 passim, the Ratio Fundamentalis Institutionis Sacerdotalis of the Congregation for Catholic Education and the Program of Priestly Formation of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops.
8. Norms affecting ecclesiastical faculties which are found in the ecclesiastical legislation of the Second Vatican Council or the Apostolic See are not repeated in these Statutes.
9. The present Statutes are adopted by the Academic Senate of the University in consultation with the Faculties, subject to the approval of the Board of Trustees of the University and the Congregation for Catholic Education, and may be amended in the same manner (Bylaws of the University II, 8).
10. The Statutes constitute a special chapter of the Faculty Handbook and, when approved by the Board of Trustees, have the same force of law as do the Bylaws of the University (Bylaws II, 9).
In these Statutes, the term "Faculties" is used exclusively to refer to these three academic units of the University, that is, to the three corporate bodies of teachers (who may be members of a Faculty, as defined in the Statutes, or associates of a Faculty) and students. In other documents the same term is used to refer to the several Schools of the University or to the body of teachers (members or associates) of those Schools.
Last Revised 06-Jun-06 05:48 PM.
