Instruction on the Incorporation of Institutes of Higher Studies (8 December 2020)

CONGREGATION FOR CATHOLIC EDUCATION
(for Educational Institutions)

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Instruction on the Incorporation of Institutes of Higher Studies

The incorporation of institutes of higher studies is encouraged by His Holiness Pope Francis’ Apostolic Constitution Veritatis Gaudium, which lists the basic criteria for renewing and relaunching ecclesiastical studies for a missionary Church which goes forth. One of these criteria “concerns the urgent need for ‘networking’ between those institutions worldwide that cultivate and promote ecclesiastical studies, in order to set up suitable channels of cooperation” (VG, Foreword, 4, d). This shows the demanding responsibility placed on the various disciplines foreseen by ecclesiastical studies, as well as on the institutions themselves.

Following the promulgation of the Apostolic Constitution Sapientia Christiana (15 April 1979), the Congregation for Catholic Education did not prepare norms for incorporated institutes, these being very rare. After the promulgation of Pope Francis’ Apostolic Constitution Veritatis Gaudium (8 December 2017) and the attached Norms of Application (27 December 2017), the Congregation for Catholic Education, drawing on its experience and the invaluable observations that it has received, “to promote with thoughtful and prophetic determination the renewal of ecclesiastical studies at every level, as part of the new phase of the Church’s mission” (VG, Foreword, 1), hereby issues this Instruction on incorporations of institutes of higher studies to ecclesiastical Faculties, to provide both for the on-going progress of the said institutes and their suitable distribution in the various parts of the world

General Norms

I. Canonical Basis for an Institute’s Incorporation

Art. 1. The incorporation of an institute is governed by article 64 of the Apostolic Constitution Veritatis Gaudium and by articles 15 § 1 and 51 §§ 2 and 3 of the Norms of Application attached to the same Constitution, as well as on what is defined and described in this Instruction, taking into account the law as hitherto applied in ecclesiastical Faculties (q.v. VG, Norms of Application, art. 1 § 1).

II. Notion and Specific Nature of an Incorporation

Art. 2. The incorporation of an institute, which is different from an affiliation or aggregation (cf. VG, Norms of Application, art. 50-51), is its linking to an ecclesiastical Faculty with the aim of attaining, via the Faculty, the corresponding academic degrees of the second and third cycles, i.e., the licentiate and the doctorate (q.v. VG, art. 51 § 2).

Art. 3. The incorporated institute is open to all, ecclesiastics or laity, who may be suitably enrolled in the corresponding cycle of an ecclesiastical Faculty as regards the studies they have already completed and their moral conduct, and can legally give testimony to the same (q.v. VG, art. 31; Norms of Application, art. 26).

Art. 4. It the incorporating faculty’s task and duty to assist and diligently oversee the incorporated institute, so that the latter’s academic life is fully and regularly conducted. For that to happen more easily, the incorporation is usually to be established within the same region.

Art. 5. The program of studies at the incorporated institute must be harmonized with the norms of the Apostolic Constitution Veritatis Gaudium and the attached Norms of Application, for that which regards the incorporating Faculty’s second and third cycles. The condition and nature of the incorporated institute’s studies are properly academic, scientific and of research, just as those of the incorporating Faculty’s second and third cycles.

III. Academic Conditions of the Incorporated Institute

Art. 6. The incorporation cannot be granted unless the institute possesses the necessary requirements for attaining the academic degrees of the second and third cycles. In fact, only in this way can there be a well-grounded hope that, via the connection with the Faculty, the desired aim can really be achieved (q.v. VG, Norms of Application, art. 51 § 3). In this regard, the following points are to be observed:

§ 1. One must accurately reflect whether the institute’s creation is necessary or at least truly useful, and whether it cannot be substituted for in other ways.

§ 2. The number and quality of the institute’s teachers must be such as to be able to satisfy the conditions of both the specialized second cycle and the doctoral third cycle.

§ 3. All teachers must have gained an appropriate doctorate (q.v. VG, Norms of Application, art. 19); have shown themselves suitable for scientific research with published works that demonstrate this (q.v. VG, art. 25 §, 3°); and must be free from other, incompatible duties (q.v. VG, art. 29).

§ 4. There should be a suitable number of ordinary students.

§ 5. The institute must have proper academic facilities, including information facilities and technical audio-visual equipment. In the first place, it must have a library (with subscriptions to electronic databases) that fulfils the academic requirements of the third cycle.

Art. 7. The weekly hours of lessons, exercises and seminars, completed during each student’s personal study and work, must be sufficient to attain the number of formative credits suitable for a year of full-time university studies.

Art. 8. § 1. The means of governing the incorporated institute must be determined in the particular Statutes approved by the Academic Council of the incorporating Faculty and then by the Congregation for Catholic Education (q.v. VG, art. 7), making sure that they do not conflict with what is prescribed in the Statutes of the Faculty or University. The academic authorities of the Faculty, both personal and collegial (q.v. VG, art. 15), are ipso iure academic authorities of the incorporated institute, to which one must add the particular authorities who are, at a minimum, the Moderator (the Ordinary of the place, Hierarch or Major Superior), the Director (q.v. VG, Norms of Application, art. 15 § 1) and the institute’s Council Members. The duties and offices of all these authorities must be defined in the Statutes (q.v. VG, art. 11 § 3).

§ 2. The appointment of the Director requires confirmation from the Congregation for Catholic Education, including for any renewal of his or her mandate.

§ 3. It is the Director’s duty to transmit electronically to the Dean of the Faculty (q.v. VG, Norms of Application, art. 17, 6°), whatever is needed for the annual updating of the Congregation for Catholic Education’s database.

Art. 9. If the incorporated institute is joined to a major seminary or college, the Statutes, while maintaining due cooperation in everything pertaining to the students’ good, must clearly and effectively provide that the academic direction and administration of the institute are correctly distinct from the governance and administration of the major seminary or college (q.v. VG, art. 21).

IV. Granting of the Incorporation and the Academic Degrees

Art. 10. § 1. The incorporation is granted by Decree of the Congregation for Catholic Education (q.v. VG, art. 64).

§ 2. The same Decree will have expressly to grant to the incorporated institute canonical public juridic personality, if it did not previously have it.

§ 3. It belongs to the Congregation for Catholic Education to grant by Decree juridic personality to an incorporated institute that forms part of a civil University.

Art. 11. The incorporation can be granted to those institutes that have shown themselves suitable for such over an appropriate length of time, and after favourable opinions have been obtained both from the Ordinary/Hierarch of the place and from the Bishops’ Conference/Oriental Hierarchical Structure.

Art. 12. The request must be presented to the Congregation for Catholic Education by the Chancellor of the incorporating Faculty (q.v. VG, art. 12), after the Faculty Council (q.v. VG, Norms of Application, art. 14) – and that of the University, if the Faculty is part of a University – has diligently examined and approved all the requirements.

Art. 13. The academic degrees of the second and third cycles are conferred by the incorporating Faculty, whose name (and that of the University, if the Faculty is part of a University) must appear on the diploma (q.v. VG, Norms of Application, art. 38).

Art. 14. The degrees awarded are the same as those awarded in the incorporating Faculty at the completion of the second and third cycles. The canonical names “licentiate” and “doctorate” can be accompanied by other expressions according to local, civil university practice, as long as: a) they really correspond to the canonical licentiate and doctorate, especially as regards the duration of the relative studies; b) there is no possibility of confusion with similar, local civil degrees (q.v. VG, art. 46-47).

Art. 15. Any local expressions for the licentiate and doctorate, which must be identical for all Faculties of a given nation or cultural region (q.v. VG, art. 47), need the approval of the Congregation for Catholic Education.

Art. 16. The issuing of authentic documents for the granting of the academic degrees, according to established procedures, belongs to the incorporating Faculty, or to the University if the Faculty is part of a University (q.v. VG, Norms of Application, art. 38-39). The incorporated institute will take care of issuing any further documents (such as the Transcript of Records, which attests to the examinations sat by the student).

Art. 17. § 1. In order to be admitted to the doctorate, one must first have obtained the licentiate (q.v. VG, art. 49 § 1).

§ 2. A requisite for obtaining the doctorate is a doctoral dissertation that makes a real contribution to the progress of science; the principal part, at least must be published (q.v. VG, art. 49 § 2).

§ 3. Publishing the dissertation electronically is admissible, if the Plan of Studies foresees it and determines its conditions, in such a way that the dissertation be permanently accessible (q.v. VG, Norms of Application, art. 36 § 2).

§ 4. A printed copy of the published dissertation must be sent to the Congregation for Catholic Education. It is recommended that copies also be sent to other ecclesiastical Faculties, at least those of the same region, which deal with the same sciences (q.v. VG, Norms of Application, art. 37).

V. Procedure for Obtaining or Renewing an Incorporation

A) Prior Examination and Approval of the Institute to be Incorporated

Art. 18. The proposal to create an incorporated institute must be drawn up by the Ordinary, Hierarch or Major Superior of the place where the institute is located, who must address his request to an ecclesiastical Faculty which can assume the academic responsibility for the institute in question.

Art. 19. The incorporating Faculty, via its delegate or commission for the incorporation (q.v. VG, Norms of Application, art. 14), must first verify whether the institute satisfies the prescribed academic conditions (q.v. VG, art. 64), including by means of on-site visits.

Art. 20. If the results are favourable, the Chancellor (q.v. VG, art. 12) of the Faculty (or of the University, if the Faculty is part of a University), having ascertained that the requirements foreseen by this Instruction are fulfilled, forwards to the Congregation for Catholic Education, along with his own opinion:

§ 1. a dossier on the academic conditions found in the institute to be incorporated, and containing the Faculty’s assessment of the same;

§ 2. the Statutes of the institute to be incorporated, drawn up in a similar way to those of the Faculty (q.v. VG, Norms of Application, Appendix I, art. 7);

§ 3. the Plan of Studies of the institute’s second and third cycles, distributed over the different years, with the total number of ECTS or comparable formative credits, both for each discipline and for the chosen specialization of the second cycle (q.v. VG, art. 41-42; Norms of Application, art. 30);

§ 4. the curriculum vitae, studiorum et operum of each of the institute’s teachers, both permanent and non-permanent;

§ 5. the number of students foreseen, distributed according to their year of formation;

§ 6. any local expressions that will accompany the canonical terms “licentiate” and “doctorate” (q.v. VG, art. 46-47) and their basis in civil law or ecclesiastical law.

B) Duties of the Congregation for Catholic Education

Art. 21. The incorporation is normally granted ad quinquennium experimenti gratia. After that period has elapsed, if the results are favourable, it is renewed ad alterum quinquennium. Should that further period conclude favourably, the incorporation is granted ad aliud quinquennium. Successive renewals will be ad aliud quinquennium. If the academic conditions of the institute, particularly as regards the number of students and teachers as well as its academic quality, fail to satisfy the necessary requirements, the incorporation can be suspended or revoked by the Congregation for Catholic Education.

Art. 22. § 1. Before the incorporation is granted by Decree, the teachers of the institute to be incorporated are to have the nihil obstat ad docendum from the Congregation for Catholic Education. For their promotion to the rank of permanent teacher they must again receive the said Congregation’s nihil obstat, in accordance with article 27 § 2 of the Apostolic Constitution Veritatis Gaudium and the institute’s Statutes.

§ 2. Those who teach disciplines concerning faith and morals must receive, after having made their Profession of Faith (q.v. can. 833, n. 7 C.I.C.), the canonical mission from the Chancellor (or his delegate), which he can grant or revoke according to the norms of the Apostolic Constitution Veritatis Gaudium.

Art. 23. For the incorporation to be renewed, the request must come from the Chancellor (q.v. VG, art. 12) of the incorporating Faculty (or University), accompanied by a thorough dossier on the results hitherto achieved from the incorporation.

Special Norms

Faculty of Theology

Art. 24. According to article 64 of the Apostolic Constitution Veritatis Gaudium, an institute incorporated in a Faculty of Theology must fulfil the academic conditions regarding studies that are specified in articles 69-76 of the said Constitution, as well as in articles 53-59 of the attached Norms of Application, with reference to the second and third cycles.

Art. 25. The second-cycle studies in an incorporated institute last for two years (120 ECTS or comparable formative credits) or four semesters (q.v. VG, art. 74, b).

Art. 26. In the second cycle of an incorporated institute, at least one specialization must be offered, which resonates with the specific nature or vocation of the incorporated institute, or is chosen in accord with the incorporating Faculty, to be approved by the Congregation for Catholic Education (q.v. VG, art. 74, b). The second cycle of an incorporated institute – just like that of the incorporating Faculty – is called a “specialization”, meaning that the students undertake a more in-depth study of a particular area of the disciplines taught, and at the same time make fuller use of scientific-research methodology, by seminars and exercises (q.v. VG, art. 39, b).

Art. 27. The third-cycle studies of the incorporated institute last for a suitable period of time (q.v. VG, art. 74, c). During the third cycle, “there is progress towards scientific maturity, especially through a piece of written work that truly makes a contribution to the advance of the science” (VG, art. 39, c).

Art. 28. The institute must have at least five permanent teachers of the theological disciplines.

Art. 29. Besides the examinations or equivalent tests for each discipline, at the end of the second cycle there is to be a comprehensive examination (or equivalent test), whereby the student proves that he or she has fully achieved the scientific formation intended by the respective cycle (q.v. VG, Norms of Application, art. 58).

Faculty of Canon Law

Art. 30. According to article 64 of the Apostolic Constitution Veritatis Gaudium, an institute incorporated in a Faculty of Canon Law must fulfil the academic conditions regarding studies that are specified in articles 77-80 of the said Constitution, as well as in articles 60-63 of the attached Norms of Application, with reference to the second and third cycles.

Art. 31. The second-cycle studies in an incorporated institute last for three years (180 ECTS or comparable formative credits) or six semesters (q.v. VG, art. 78, b).

Art. 32. The third-cycle studies of the incorporated institute last for a suitable period of time (q.v. VG, art. 78, c).

Art. 33. The institute must have at least four permanent teachers of the canonical disciplines (q.v. Congregation for Catholic Education, Instruction The Study of Canon Law in light of the Reform of the Matrimonial Process, art. 2).

Art. 34. Besides the examinations or equivalent tests for each discipline, at the end of the second cycle there is to be a comprehensive examination (or equivalent test), whereby the student proves that he or she has fully achieved the scientific formation intended by the second cycle (q.v. VG, Norms of Application, art. 63).

Faculty of Philosophy

Art. 35. According to article 64 of the Apostolic Constitution Veritatis Gaudium, an institute incorporated in a Faculty of Philosophy must fulfil the academic conditions regarding studies that are specified in articles 81-84 of the said Constitution, as well as in articles 64-69 of the attached Norms of Application, with reference to the second and third cycles.

Art. 36. The second-cycle studies of the incorporated institute last for two years (120 ECTS or comparable formative credits) or four semesters (q.v. VG, art. 82, b).

Art. 37. In the second cycle of an incorporated institute, at least one specialization must be offered, which resonates with the specific nature or vocation of the incorporated institute, or is chosen in accord with the incorporating Faculty, to be approved by the Congregation for Catholic Education (q.v. VG, art. 82, b). The second cycle of an incorporated institute – just like that of the incorporating Faculty – is called a “specialization”, meaning that the students undertake a more in-depth study of a particular area of the disciplines taught, and at the same time make fuller use of scientific-research methodology, by seminars and exercises (q.v. VG, art. 39, b).

Art. 38. The third-cycle studies of the incorporated institute last for at least three years or six semesters (q.v. VG, art. 82, c). During the third cycle, “there is progress towards scientific maturity, especially through a piece of written work that truly makes a contribution to the advance of the science” (VG, art. 39, c).

Art. 39. The institute must have at least five permanent teachers of the philosophical disciplines.

Other Faculties

Art. 40. An institute incorporated in any Faculty other than of theology, canon law or philosophy must fulfil the academic conditions regarding studies that are specified in articles 85-87 of the Apostolic Constitution Veritatis Gaudium, as well as in article 70 of the attached Norms of Application (q.v. VG, art. 64).

Art. 41. The second-cycle studies of the incorporated institute last for two years or four semesters (120 ECTS or comparable formative credits).

Art. 42. The third-cycle studies of the incorporated institute last for a suitable period of time.

Art. 43. The incorporated institute must have at least five permanent teachers of the principal disciplines (q.v. VG, Norms of Application, art. 31).

Final Norms

Art. 44. This Instruction goes into force on the first day of the academic year 2021-2022 or on the first day of the academic year 2022, according to the academic calendar used in each region.

Art. 45. § 1. By 8 September 2022, every institute that is already incorporated must present to the Congregation for Catholic Education, via the incorporating Faculty, its Statutes and Plan of Studies, revised in accordance with this Instruction.

§ 2. Any changes to the Statutes or Plan of Studies require the approval of the Congregation for Catholic Education.

Art. 46. Only the Congregation for Catholic Education can dispense from the observance of any article of this Instruction.

Art. 47. Norms and customs presently in force that are contrary to this Instruction are abrogated.

On 1 December 2020, the Holy Father approved this document of the Congregation for Catholic Education and authorized its publication.

Rome, from the Offices of the Congregation for Catholic Education, 8 December 2020, Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Giuseppe Card. VERSALDI
Prefect

Angelo Vincenzo ZANI
Titular Archbishop of Volturno
Secretary