Maynooth to bolster links with top-level colleges

Maynooth to bolster links with top-level colleges St Patrick's College, Maynooth

St Patrick’s College, Maynooth is set to strengthen its links with a number of top-level European colleges this year.

The Kildare-based Pontifical University has been in discussions since 2013 with Heythrop College, London (Britain), Tilburg School of Catholic Theology, Utrecht (Holland) and the Newman Institute, Uppsala (Sweden) with a view to forming a strategic partnership.

Despite the announcement of the closure of Heythrop College, the Ecclesiastical Faculties of Theology and Philosophy (The Bellermine Institute – Heythrop) is still a partner in the proposed Utrecht Consortium.

Maynooth’s Vice-President Prof. Michael Mullaney told The Irish Catholic that the grouping “will not diminish the autonomy of each participating academic institution, but will empower participating institutions to greater flexibility in academic co-operation”.

Noting that the proposal would be an “innovation” in the world of ecclesiastical academic institutions, Prof. Mullaney said it would “require the approval” of the Holy See’s Congregation for Catholic Education, which is “aware of the discussions and has received regular updates on the consortium’s progress”.

The canon lawyer said he hoped the colleges would be in a position to submit their proposal for the proposed consortium to Rome later this year and expects the Holy See to approve it ad experimentum for five years.

“The Holy See are up to speed on the discussions to date so far and I think are very interested in the proposal. If it works, as they have said themselves, it could be a model for other areas of the world where there are similar sized Catholic institutions that could benefit from working closer together or indeed our own consortium might expand to include other ones in Western Europe,” he said.

Among the primary objectives of the proposed consortium Prof. Mullaney listed were “promoting Catholic higher education”, “facilitating the award of ecclesiastical decrees” and “finding other ways of educating the next generation of theologians and philosophers in the ways enabling them to cultivate and communicate Catholic tradition”.

The consortium, which will mainly benefit post-graduate students and lecturers, will involve joint degrees; collaborating in ecclesiastical formation for ministry; promoting joint research projects; and encouraging exchange students and teachers.