Holy See
International Center for Recognition (ICR)
Dicastery for Culture and Education
Piazza Pio XII, 3
00120 Città del Vaticano
Phone Number: 06 69 88 41 67
Fax: 06 69 88 41 72
E-mail: icr@dce.va
Website: http://www.educatio.va/content/cec/en/international-recognition-center.html
Education
The Holy See has a long and well-established diplomatic presence in various domains, as a subject of international law, including the cultural and academic activities at global level.
Regarding the Holy See’s presence at international level in relation to Higher Education, a number of choices have been fundamental such as, for example, the signing of the Council of Europe’s European Cultural Convention in December 1954 (a mandatory requirement in order to be admitted into the Bologna Process as a member country), the signing of the Lisbon Convention in 1997, and the participation further three of UNESCO’s regional (i.e. continental) Conventions (Asia-Pacific, Africa, and Latin America) on the recognition of higher studies and academic degrees, and the UNESCO Global Convention on Recognition. These Conventions were signed because the ecclesiastical education system is not just limited to Europe, but is found in all continents. In 2003, the Holy See joined the Bologna Process, and in 2010 the newly-created European Higher Education Area (EHEA), together with meanwhile other 48 countries, and the relevant international bodies in this domain.
This was done for two reasons: on the one hand, to take an active part in the contemporary university world, so that the sciences which draw from the light of the Revelation are not excluded, and their academic-scientific contribution can be considered; on the other hand, to ensure the Catholic Church’s active and proactive presence in the fora where the strategies of increasingly globalized university policies are decided.
Regarding international Conventions and agreements, the Holy See works through the Secretariat of State, whereas the specific competence regarding higher ecclesiastical studies worldwide is entrusted to the Dicastery for Culture and Education, according to the provisions of the 2022 Apostolic Constitution Praedicate Evangelium, especially article 161.
The most important legally binding tools promoting academic recognition are, at regional level (which actually means “continental”, according to UNESCO’s definition of regions), the various international Conventions. Starting from 1975, UNESCO introduced six regional Conventions for the mutual recognition of degrees, diplomas, and academic studies:
•1975 (updated in 2019): Latin America and the Caribbean Region (Mexico City Convention – Buenos Aires Convention) – signed and ratified also by the Holy See;
•1976: Mediterranean countries;
•1978: Arab States (updated in 2022);
•1979 (updated in 1997): Europe (UNESCO Region, including the United States, Canada, Australia, etc. = Lisbon Convention) – signed and ratified also by the Holy See;
•1981 (updated in 2014): Africa (Arusha Convention – Addis Abeba Convention) – signed also by the Holy See and entered into force on the 15th of December 2019;
•1983 (updated in 2011): Asia – Pacific (Bangkok Convention – Tokyo Convention) – the updated convention was finalized and signed (also by the Holy See) on November 26, 2011 in Tokyo and entered into force on 1st February 2018.
These regional conventions are legally binding and aim to promote academic mobility. Currently, more than 130 countries in the world have signed and ratified one or several Conventions.
Given the ever-growing international mobility, a Global Convention had been elaborated from 2011 on, and the UNESCO Global Convention on Recognition concerning Higher Education Qualifications was adopted in November 2019 and is open for ratifications of all countries. It was ratified by the Holy See in December 2021 and has entered into force on 5 March 2023.
The Holy See, through the 2nd Section of the Secretariat of State, has signed, ratified, and deposited the instruments related to 4 of the 6 regional Conventions and ratified the Global Convention, and is the only subject of international law that has signed and ratified all four major Conventions which correspond to UNESCO’s four continental regions, and the Global Convention.
Although the decision to sign and ratify such conventions belongs to the 2nd Section of the Secretariat of State, starting from 2006, the Dicastery for Culture and Education has explicitly received the task of taking on the responsibility for all practical and content-related aspects, developing its own, more focused strategy, as well as fulfilling all the obligations stemming from the Conventions. Amongst such obligations, suffice to mention the participation in related plenary sessions, daily contacts with permanent representatives of countries adhering to the same Conventions and their communications networks, as well as all evaluation and information procedures that are provided for by the same Conventions. The implementation is processed mainly by the International Center for Recognition (ICR) of the Holy See, seated within the Dicastery for Culture and Education.
For more information see http://www.vatican.va and http://www.educatio.va (Italian and English) / http://www.dce.va (Italian).
The Catholic Church (represented by the Holy See, also called the Apostolic See, which is a subject of international law), fulfilling its mission of evangelization, devotes particular attention to Academic Institutions of Higher Education (such as Catholic or ecclesiastical Universities, Faculties and specialized institutes), which by their nature aim to secure that “the Christian outlook should acquire a public, stable and universal influence in the whole process of the promotion of higher culture”, as stated in the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council Declaration on Christian Education Gravissimum Educationis.
The Church has undoubtedly played an important role in the birth of the University. In fact, almost all the most ancient universities were created either by the Popes or with the direct involvement of the Church. Rightly, therefore, noted John Paul II, in his Apostolic Constitution Ex Corde Ecclesiae, “Born from the heart of the Church, the Catholic University is part of the tradition dating back to the very origin of the University as an institution, and has always proved an incomparable center of creativity and the spreading of knowledge for the good of humanity.
Legislation
Three-Cycle Structure
The academic study curriculum is structured into three separate cycles or degrees, adapted according to each subject’s requirements:- the first cycle provides students with basic knowledge and skills, whereby they are introduced to the scientific research that is proper to their subject (cf. Veritatis gaudium 39, a))
- the second cycle allows students to study subjects in greater depth and acquire a more advanced scientific and operational methodology (cf. Veritatis gaudium 39, b))
- the third cycle promotes the acquisition of higher knowledge and skills «especially through a written work which truly makes a contribution to the advance of the science» (cf. Veritatis gaudium 39, c)), also in order to be able to carry out research and teaching in other Universities or advanced research Centers.
Programme Structure
The structure of the curricula includes activities ranging from Magisterial lectures, which normally entail mandatory attendance (cf. cf. Veritatis gaudium 41), to written and oral exercises, workshops, seminars, and practical exercises that foster individual and/or group research (cf. Veritatis gaudium 42).An important part of the curricula are final degree examinations, in addition to exams and tests involving individual subjects which, together, should prove the level of scientific maturity that has been achieved and corresponds to the respective cycle (cf. Veritatis gaudium 43), also in relation to further studies in the Faculty and the admission to the following cycles (cf. Veritatis gaudium 44).The Statutes of the respective Faculty specify, in detail, the kinds of tests and degree examinations that must be passed, also in relation to students coming from other academic Institutions (cf. Veritatis gaudium 44).Ecclesiastical Universities/Faculties are urged by the Dicastery for Culture and Education to ensure, on the one hand, the unity of studies and, on the other hand, qualification and degree comparability, «to develop their curricula, clearly showing work actually done by students through credits (such as ECTS or comparable credit systems), and actually and realistically define “learning outcomes,” for which a study curriculum, a whole subject or even one single course are supposed to prepare students within a specific academic cycle» (Circular Letter 6, of 30 March 2009).Integral Formation and Interdisciplinarity
Study organization is based on the interaction between different subjects, especially the ones that belong to the various domains that are more directly connected to individual Universities/Faculties’ specific purposes.Individual educational activities are structured into different study curricula in order to make an integrated whole, in order to facilitate interdisciplinarity and collaboration between Faculties and Teachers of different scientific subjects (cf. Veritatis gaudium 40 § 2).The educational goal of ecclesiastical Universities/Faculties is to promote an integral and integrated formation of all students, that does not only take into account the study subjects or domains that are cultivated in that Institution, but opens up to all scientific contributions which, albeit not directly related to the Faculty’s specific aims, nevertheless contribute to understanding the human realities that are implied in the search for truth and things’ “raison d’etre”.This is why educational activities, and the way in which learning is organized, are inspired by the principle of coordination and integration among the various theoretical, philosophical, theological, historical, legal, sociological, psychological, methodological, technical-operational, and communication-related subjects, in order to ensure the unity and integration of academic formation, as it is laid down in the statutory norms (cf. Veritatis gaudium 40 § 1 e Veritatis gaudium 7). «Exchanges among academic subjects will prevent the danger of just providing good professional training for the labor markets’ immediate needs, sacrificing the goal of a sound formation at the human level» (Circular Letter 4, of 30 October 2006).Freedom of Research and Teaching
Furthermore, the freedom to carry out research and teaching, in compliance with scientific research requirements and the Magisterium of the Church, is ensured so that a true progress in the knowledge and understanding of divine truth can be achieved (cf. Veritatis Gaudium 3 § 1).For more information see http://www.educatio.va (Italian/English) or http://www.dce.va (Italian).National Information Centre (NIC) Information and Activities
The AVEPRO Agency
The Holy See’s participation in the Bologna Process (which was formalized on September 19, 2003 during the meeting of European Education Ministers in Berlin) was also motivated by the wish to pursue and achieve a number of objectives that are envisaged by the Bologna Process itself, such as:
- Respect for University systems’ specificity and diversity;
- Establishment of a Common Space of Higher Education that favors University Institutions’ involvement at international level;
- Attention towards quality as an inherent and necessary value for research and innovation in universities.
Hence, the Agency of the Holy See for the Evaluation and the Promotion of Quality in Ecclesiastical Universities and Faculties (AVEPRO) was erected by the Supreme Pontiff Benedict XVI with the Chirograph of September 19, 2007 as an institution that is connected to the Holy See, according to the provisions of the 2022 Apostolic Constitution Praedicate Evangelium, especially article 247, but independent of the competent national authority for higher education, which is the Dicastery for Culture and Education.
The Agency’s task is to promote and develop a culture of quality within academic institutions that directly depend on the Holy See, and provide them with qualitative criteria that are valid at the international level. In compliance with the Holy See’s legislation on higher education, the Agency is fully autonomous in carrying out its activities.
AVEPRO’s activity is regulated by the Apostolic Constitution Veritatis Gaudium and is in line with European Standards and Guidelines (ESG), as well as with other international agreements that pertain to norms and procedures for quality assessment in higher education.
Contacts
The Holy See’s Agency for the Evaluation and Promotion of Quality in Ecclesiastical Universities and Faculties
Via della Conciliazione, 5
00193 Roma (RM)
Tel./Fax:
00 39 06 69 88 40 34
00 39 06 69 88 52 11
Padre Armand Puig i Tàrrech presidente@avepro.va
Riccardo Cinquegrani direttore@avepro.va
Valerio Napoleoni segreteria@avepro.va
AVEPRO works with academic institutions to define internal quality evaluation procedures for teaching, research, and services, through the development and use of adequate operational tools (guidelines, questionnaires, data bases, information networks, etc). Furthermore, it schedules external evaluation procedures for individual academic institutions, by organizing on-site expert visits.
Fully respecting the autonomy with which it carries out its activities, the Agency works together with all subjects who are interested in the life and progress of ecclesiastical Universities and Faculties: institutions, the Dicastery for Culture and Education, Catholic Bishops’ conferences, all international, national, and regional authorities, and all those who work in the dioceses of countries where academic institutions are located.
Agency’s bodies
The President manages and represents the Agency and chairs the Board of Directors and Scientific Council;
The Board of Directors approves the Agency’s general approaches and supervises its activities, verifying the results;
The Scientific Council assists the President in conducting the Agency’s activities.
The Director and Staff are also part of the Agency. The Director, in accordance with the orders and instructions of the President, coordinates the work of the offices and staff in the implementation of the Agency’s programs and execution of its tasks, and is in charge of both management and accounting aspects of the Agency’s administration.
The Agencies resorts to experts to carry out external evaluations.
For more information see http://www.educatio.va (Italian/English) or http://www.dce.va (Italian) and http://www.avepro.va.
Higher Education Institutions (HEI) Landscape and Mobility
Promoting a Quality Culture
The purpose of the guide “Promoting a Quality Culture” is to help ecclesiastical Universities/Faculties understand the norms that were introduced by the former Congregation for Catholic Education (CCE), since 2022 the Dicastery for Culture and Education (DCE), also in recent times, and implement them in a standardized way. Such norms and rules were introduced also because of the many international initiatives the Holy See takes part in, thereby making the quality of culture a feature of ordinary academic life.
The aim is to contribute to making the entire system of ecclesiastical studies more consistent in terms of service quality. It is the first initiative of this kind, which reconciles the intention to provide both useful information to users (Academic and Official Authorities) with the need for criteria to stimulate quality culture.
Hence, the Guide does not include everything: it does not exhaustively provide all possible and necessary information for academic life to take place; rather, it lays down basic criteria for users to fulfill their mission, by providing examples that can easily be implemented or developed by the various Institutions. It recalls the prescriptive features and points out the necessary process to be implemented to improve the Institutions.
The Guide includes three parts that are quite different from each other:
- The first part provides a summary description of the ecclesiastical education system and its specific mission.
- The second part calls for an improvement of processes related to such mission, suggesting relevant criteria. It is organized into three steps: a short overview of existing ecclesiastical regulations, suggestions regarding the gathering of useful data, and guidance in order to establish a quality culture.
- The third part is dedicated to a presentation of AVEPRO and its activity.
Instead of reading the Guide from the first page to the last, perhaps it is better read as a reference text about individual topics, whenever accurate methodological instructions are needed.
Chapters tend to be complete, albeit not exhaustive, so that they can be consulted quickly when needed and also separately from other chapters. This can make for a number of repetitions and, perhaps, a text that is not too nimble overall. To make consultation easier, a glossary is provided so that users can adequately know and use key concepts.
The handbook entitled “The Culture of Quality. A Guide for Ecclesiastical Faculties” is available from Libreria Editrice Vaticana in Italian and English.
For more information see http://www.educatio.va (Italian/English) or http://www.dce.va (Italian).
Academic Institutions recognized by the Holy See
The Database of Ecclesiastical Higher Education Institutions – being an authoritative list – includes all higher education institutions that have been erected, approved, or accredited by the Dicastery for Culture and Education (before 2022: Congregation for Catholic Education) as part of the Holy See’s education system (following the provisions of the Holy See’s Higher Education Act, the Apostolic Constitution Veritatis Gaudium.
Obviously, the Database’s completeness depends on the rigorous update of institutional data and descriptions of individual institutions’ formative offers.
However, the Dicastery acts as a guarantor at the international level for data validity and completeness.
⇒ OFFICIAL DATABASE OF ECCLESIASTICAL INSTITUTIONS AND FACULTIES
⇒ DATABASE OF ECCLESIASTICAL PROGRAMMES (in progress)
For more information see http://www.educatio.va (English) or http://www.dce.va (Italian).
