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The Catholic university brings diversity and purpose to the higher education sector

Catholic universities make a remarkable contribution to society and the intellectual life of the Church, writes ACU Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Zlatko Skrbis.

A Catholic university ensures the link between faith and reason is at the heart of teaching, learning and research. Catholic universities are also built around a commitment to serving the common good, through service learning, community engagement and by offering opportunities to students from all walks of life.

However, of the many universities that make up Australia’s higher education system, only two are Catholic.

Diversity is a crucial element of any higher education system and for this reason Australian Catholic University and the University of Notre Dame Australia add an important richness and a valuable point of difference.

As institutions of the largest faith tradition in the world – Christianity – Catholic universities routinely look to two sources of inspiration, and challenge, to maintain our point of difference.

The first are the timeless reflections on Catholic higher education by St Cardinal John Henry Newman in 1852. Introduced to the world through a series of lectures, Newman’s proposal for Catholic higher education were soon published as a book, Idea of a University and continues to be highly referenced in the sector and beyond.

For Newman, the purpose of university education was to raise “the intellectual tone of society, at cultivating the public mind, at purifying the national taste, at supplying true principles to popular enthusiasm and fixed aims to popular aspiration, at giving enlargement and sobriety to the ideas of the age”.

He argued that being Catholic institutions, religion and the Catholic faith should be accessible to all, but distinguishable from the formation in convents and seminaries. Instead, a true university would offer “direct preparation for this world” and prepare students for a full, engaged and fulfilling life.

More than 100 years after Newman’s vision for Catholic universities, the Church was given a more concrete blueprint for Catholic universities and colleges.

In 1991, Pope John Paul II promulgated his Apostolic Constitution Ex Corde Ecclesiae. In this solemn papal decree, the Pope expressed his conviction that a Catholic University “is without any doubt one of the best instruments that the Church offers to our age which is searching for certainty and wisdom”. In other words, Catholic universities exist to serve, through our research and our teaching.

These sources of inspiration have become necessary touchstones in an increasingly secular society.

There is tremendous value in what we offer as Catholic universities. Not only do we add colour and vibrancy to Australia’s higher education sector, we offer a deeper mission and purpose that stem from Catholic social teaching: the pursuit of knowledge, the dignity of the human person and the common good.

At ACU, we have launched Vision 2033, our strategic plan, which aligns our Catholic mission, with our commitment to enabling flourishing human lives, thriving communities, and ethical futures.

The task of holding on to, and strengthening, our Catholic identity and mission is not an easy task, and we know it is experienced globally within the Catholic system.

To this end, this week ACU will host the Association of Southeast and East Asian Catholic College and Universities (ASEACCU) conference for the first time. More than 200 delegates from ASEACCU’s 87 member institutions will come to our North Sydney campus to reflect on our purpose and identity as Catholic universities.

Gatherings such as the ASEACCU Conference allow us to reflect and reaffirm our purpose as a Catholic university – to pursue knowledge and to serve a higher purpose.

The Church’s role as “expert in humanity” has strong foundations at ACU. It drives our commitment to service learning, ensuring that our students work with and contribute meaningfully to their communities. Our focus on providing a supportive environment means our students feel a sense of belonging and purpose.

ACU is one of the first Australian universities to receive the new Carnegie Community Engagement Classification. This recognises our commitment to addressing real-world challenges in the community, serving people who have historically experienced disadvantage or marginalisation. ACU is now also recognised as a first-choice university for military veterans and their family members because we don’t simply offer an academic program but walk alongside ex-service personnel to enable their educational journey.

In my tenure at Vice-Chancellor, I’ve had the privilege of serving as President of the Strategic Alliance of Catholic Research Universities (SACRU), helping promote and advance Catholic higher education research in a world that is increasingly sceptical of the link between faith and reason.

As ACU prepares to welcome our friends and colleagues from Asia and across Australia, we acknowledge the centenary of the International Federation of Catholic Universities (IFCU), of which ASEACCU is a part. IFCU’s centenary isn’t merely a milestone but an opportunity to reflect on the profound impact Catholic universities have on the global academic landscape.

At its core, in accordance with Pope John Paul II’s vision, a Catholic university is tasked with integrating faith and reason, academic excellence, and the mission of the Church into its educational framework. At its heart, drawing from the wisdom of St John Henry Newman, it is about giving our students purpose and direction for what lies before them, and with that, a hope for the future to all.

This article originally appeared in The Catholic Weekly.