Pope Benedict XVI’s speech to Professors and Students of the Libera Università Maria Santissima Assunta (LUMSA)

(November 12, 2009) “The Catholic University has played a significant role in fidelity to its specific identity and in an effort to provide a qualified service in the Church and society,” said Pope Benedict XVI. He was addressing the Professors and Students of the Libera Università Maria Santissima Assunta, popularly known as LUMSA, on Thursday, in Rome. The LUMSA University was privately founded in 1939, which belongs to the national Italian network of universities, having 9000 students in its four locations and is known for its humanist vocation and Catholic orientation. The Holy Father then referred to the guidelines offered by his predecessor Pope John Paul II who called on Catholic University to ensure an institutional Christian presence in the academic world. In the complex social and cultural reality, the Catholic university is called upon to act with the endless reflection of wisdom, enlightened by faith, and scientific research, with fidelity to the message of the Christian Church with deep commitment to serve the people of God and the human family in their journey towards the ultimate goal, he added. The Pope then said: “LUMSA is a Catholic university, which has the specific element of their identity this Christian inspiration. As stated in its Magna Charta, it proposes a scientific work focused on search for truth in the dialogue between faith and reason, in an ideal impulse towards integration of knowledge and values. It seeks both an educational activity to be conducted with constant attention to ethics, developing a positive synthesis between faith and culture and science and wisdom, for the full and harmonious growth of the human person.” He called on them to dedicate themselves in a profound way to the integral formation of their personality, to search for truth and goodness throughout their lives.