John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin
Encyclopedia : J : JO : JOH : John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin
John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin (in Polish Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II, or KUL) is located in Lublin, Poland. Presently it enrols over 19,000 students. It has seven faculties: Theology, Philosophy, Law, Canon Law and Administration, Social Sciences, Mathematics and Natural Sciences, and Humanities.
The university has a short history by the standards of other ancient universities of Europe. Nevertheless, this short history is quite exceptional. The university was founded in 1918 just as Poland regained its independence. The aim of the university was to be a modern place of higher education which would conduct research in the spirit of harmony between science and faith. The university sought to produce a new Catholic intelligentsia which would play a leading role in the Polish community.
The number of students increased from 399 in 1918/1919 to 1440 in 1937/1938. This growth was interrupted by the outbreak of the Second World War and Nazi Germany's occupation of Poland. During the occupation the university was ordered shut down and its buildings were converted into a military hospital. Many professors and students were persecuted. Nevertheless, the University carried on its teaching activities in secret. After the liberation of Lublin from the German occupation in July 1944 by the Red Army, the university reopened on 21 August, 1944.
Since then the university has functioned without interruption until today. Remarkably, it managed to stay open through all the years of Communism in Poland between 1944 and 1989. It was the only independent, Catholic university in existence in the entire Soviet block. Given that the Communist governments all insisted on having a total monopoly of control over educational institutions, the preservation of its independence was a great achievement.
The University was often harassed in various ways by the Communist authorities, especially in the 1950's and the 1960's. The university faculty were under frequent surveillance by the secret police. Periodically some faculties were denied by the state the right to grant graduate degrees. The employment prospects of its graduates were limited.
Despite the difficulties, the university's independence was maintained and it never adopted Marxist dogmas taught at all the other state universities. It served as a haven for all those students who were expelled from state universities for political reasons.
After the fall of Communism in Poland in 1989 the university has flourished, quadrupling its student population and greatly expanding its campus.
Notable alumni and professors
- Pope John Paul II (Karol Wojtyła)- unquestionably the most famous person associated with the university. He became a part-time teacher of philosophy at KUL starting in 1954, sharing his time between teaching in Lublin and doing his pastoral work in Krakow. After he became archbishop of Krakow in 1963 and a cardinal in 1967, his duties limited the time he was able to spend teaching in Lublin, and his students often commuted to his lectures in Krakow. His involvement with the university continued until he was elected pope in 1978. All of his philosophical works were published in Lublin.
- Stefan Cardinal Wyszyński, Primate of Poland, regarded as one of the greatest moral authorities of the 20th century.
External link
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