Catholic University of the Sacred Heart (Milan)

The Catholic University of the Sacred Heart (Milan). - The Italian Catholic university opened in Milan on 7 December 1921 in the presence of the papal legate, then Cardinal Achille Ratti. After three years of operation it obtained legal recognition from the State (royal decree of 2 October 1924), by which it secured equal rights with other Italian universities.

To its two initial faculties, of philosophy and social sciences, others were soon added, and it now comprises faculties of law, economics and commerce, political and social sciences, arts and philosophy, education, and agriculture (the latter based in Piacenza); there are also the School of Statistics and sixteen advanced schools in various disciplines.

The true historical significance of the institution lies in its having realised the ideal of educational freedom even in the realm of higher culture. A relentlessly centralising trend, begun in Piedmont with the law of 14 October 1848 and not checked by the Casati law of 1859, triumphed with Italian unification. The faculties of theology, previously existing in various cities, were abolished and definitively suppressed by the Correnti law of 10 May 1872; the Pontifical University, opened in Rome by Pius IX in 1871, was closed by the Bonghi decree of 12 March 1876. Italian Catholics thus found themselves deprived of what Lacordaire regarded as the first freedom in the world, the mother of all freedoms. At the first Catholic Congress (Venice, 1874), Don Antonio Agliardi, later a cardinal, proposed amid enthusiastic applause a resolution for the founding of a Catholic university in Italy. This proposal was repeatedly endorsed by the leaders of Italian Catholic Action and at the annual gatherings of the Opera dei Congressi and Catholic Committees in Italy; the Milan Congress of 1897 voiced the shared hope aloud.

From 1907 onwards, Fr Agostino Gemelli had at the first Catholic university congress expounded the theme: “Why Italian Catholics must have their own university”; in 1909, with the help of Blessed Pius X, he founded the Rivista di filosofia neo-scolastica to begin elaborating the programme; in 1913 he launched the “Italian Society for Philosophical and Psychological Studies”; in 1914, with the first article of the new cultural review Vita e Pensiero, devoted to medievalism, he set out the line to be followed. After the war, thanks also to the support of the Archbishop of Milan, Cardinal Andrea Ferrari, and under the protection of Benedict XV and the Sacred Congregation of Seminaries and Universities, he obtained the papal decree of erection on Christmas Day 1920. By royal decree of 24 June 1920 it was established
UNIVERSITÀ CATTOLICA DEL SACRO CUORE - Partial view of the Aula Magna. In the background, the Wedding at Cana, fresco by Callisto Piazza (1500-61) - Milan.

as a legal entity the Istituto di Studi Superiori “Giuseppe Toniolo” and, on the occasion of Gentile’s law of 1924, which envisaged the establishment of free universities, this Institute obtained on 2 Oct. of the same year the royal decree (no. 1661, Gazzetta Ufficiale del Regno of 31 Oct.) by which “the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore was established in Milan” and its statutes were approved. From then on, thanks to divine blessings and the high and effective support of the Pontiffs, the University progressed and acquired a new magnificent seat in Piazza S. Ambrogio in Oct. 1930, in the former Cistercian monastery. The Apostolic Institute of the Sacred Heart at Castelnuovo Fogliani, due to the munificence of Pius XI, allowed the creation of a flourishing section for religious women teachers. Italian Catholics every year celebrate on Passion Sunday the University Day, established by the Holy See. And the love of an entire people found its most eloquent expression when in Aug. 1943, during the Second World War, the University was struck by high-explosive and incendiary bombs, which destroyed or seriously damaged a third of its various buildings; the generosity of Italian Catholics then allowed for its immediate and complete reconstruction, so that the Ateneo del Sacro Cuore was the first among all universities to repair the damage suffered.

The programme of the Università Cattolica is indicated by the name with which it was dedicated through the merit of Armida Barelli (d. 1952), who devoted the best of her energies to the Ateneo.

As for its scientific seriousness, the Università Cattolica has sought to demonstrate it both through lectures and the various activities of
UNIVERSITÀ CATTOLICA DEL SACRO CUORE - Cloister of the ancient Cistercian monastery built to the design of Bramante and, after restoration, dedicated to Pius XI - Milan.
UNIVERSITÀ CATTOLICA DEL SACRO CUORE — UNIVERSE

The Catholic University has sought to demonstrate this both through the regularly held lectures and various activities of its faculty, and through their publications collected in numerous series of volumes, as well as through its well-equipped seminars and laboratories (it suffices to recall the psychology laboratory, now of European renown).

After thirty years of existence, in the academic year 1951–52 the Catholic University had a faculty of 156 professors with 7,184 students. To date, 7,013 graduates have emerged from its halls, of whom 5 have secured university chairs, 85 are private lecturers, 1,000 teach in secondary schools, not to mention the deputies, senators, ministers, magistrates, ministry officials, diplomats, and even some bishops. Students are provided with various forms of assistance: scholarships, subsidies, meal vouchers, book-purchase allowances, and aid to attend the annual spiritual exercises. In the academic year 1951–52, more than 29 million lire were spent on needy students. Students find tranquil lodging in four university colleges, some free of charge following special competitions; they also have a building at their disposal, the “Domus nostra,” which accommodates those from nearby cities, providing meeting spaces and the university dining hall. At the end of 1951, the University Library held 552,787 volumes and more than 2,500 journals, and maintains exchange services with foreign academies and universities. It has also organized a microfilm service.