Reorganization of Higher Catholic Education at the End of the 19th — Early 20th Centuries as a Consequence of the Ideas of Social Catholicism

Abstract

The publication is devoted to the specifics of higher Catholic education during the pontificate of Pope Leo XIII (1878–1903). The purpose of the article is to study influence of this pontiff on the development of the world system of higher spiritual and secular education institutions. The research methodology was based on the analysis of the extensive encyclical heritage of Leo XIII and foreign church-historical literature, since the topic covered in the article is practically not studied by Russian theological science. The methodology used in the study of the issue is complex. In the first part of the article, the prerequisites and strategy of educational reforms of this Pontifica associated with the widespread suppression of traditional religious education by the secular anti-clerical authorities, and theological and philosophical preferences of this Pope. In the second part of the publication, in chronological order, an impressive list of Catholic universities and faculties, opened and canonically approved by Leo XIII during his 25-year pontificate. Special attention is paid to the sympathy of this pope for the administrative and pedagogical potential of the Jesuits in the context of opposition to state anti-clericalism and the decisive role of this order in the preservation and enhancement of higher Catholic education institutions around the world. As a result of the study, the author noted the success of the educational policy of Leo XIII as a means of restraining rationalism, materialism and dangerous revolutionary currents in the capitalist society. Parallels also noted between the era of this pope and the problems of present Russian theological education, designed to withstand the same challenges of the secular world and also experiencing difficulties associated with issues of its state regulation and official recognition.