Uniwersytet w nauczaniu Jana Pawła II

Abstract

The author shows the most significant aspects of the Pope’s thought about university. The starting point is the recognition of its nature as a community devoted to scientific search for the truth and to communicating it to others. The functions of the university are expressed in striving for integration of sciences in the synthesis of knowledge, in formation of students and service to the society. The Pope’s thought is focused in a special way on perceiving the mission and the specific character of Catholic universities in the contemporary world, under the circumstances of mass education, erosion of community and disappearance of the master-pupil relation. In the Pope’s reflection the author searches for recommendations concerning the direction in which universities should go. The Pope’s thought is not limited to the circle of Catholic universities and Ecclesial Departments, but it may be an impulse, or sometimes even provocation, for serious reflection on the condition of every university.