Showdown looms between Vatican, Peru's Catholic university

January 02, 2012

A papal representative has ended his visit to the Catholic Pontifical University of Peru, finding the school's leaders unwilling to accept any direction from the Vatican.

Cardinal Peter Erdo of Budapest, who had been named by the Pontiff to conduct an apostolic visitation of the university, concluded that the school's officials will not recognize the authority of the Holy See. After months of fruitless negotiations, the university's adamant stand will apparently force the Vatican to take action, probably stripping the school of its title as a pontifical institution.

The university—which has already refused to seat the Archbishop of Lima on its board, violating a requirement of its own founding documents—risks provoking a legal crisis. The original donor who provided the land for the school stipulate that if the pontifical university is closed, the property would pass to the Lima archdiocese.

 

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Further information:

• Peru: Vatican mediation for “rebel university” fails (Vatican Insider)
• Peruvian Catholic university defies Vatican; showdown likely (CWN 10/28)