PUCP ordered to remove "Catholic" and "Pontifical" from title

The Holy See, by a decree of the Secretary of State, has decided to remove the right of the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru to use the words “Pontifical” and “Catholic” in its title. The University, founded in 1917 and canonically erected by a decree of the Holy See in 1942, has amended its statutes several times since 1967 in a way which has severely injured the interests of the Church. Since 1990, the University has repeatedly been urged by the Holy See to conform its statutes to the Apostolic Constitution Ex Corde Ecclesiae. It has not lived up to that legal duty. Following a canonical visitation in December 2011, and a meeting by the Secretary of State with the Rector in February 2012, another attempt was begun at dialogue in adapting the Statutes in accordance with Church law. Recently, the Rector sent two letters to the Secretary of State, in which he expressed his inability to implement the requirements, conditioning the change of the statutes to the renunciation of the right of the archdiocese to participate in the administration of the University. The participation of the Archdiocese of Lima in the administration of the University has been repeatedly confirmed by the judgments of civil courts in Peru. Given the attitude of the University, together with other facts, the Holy See was obliged to adopt this measure, while reaffirming the duty of the University to submit to canonical legislation. The Holy See will continue to monitor the situation of the University, hoping that in the near future, the competent academic authorities will reconsider their position, in order to reverse this measure. The renewal requested by the Holy See will make the University more capable of responding to the task of bringing the message of Christ to man, society and culture, according to the mission of the Church in the world.