Professor Peter Finn KSG (College Principal) attended the 26th General Assembly of the International Federation of Catholic Universities at Maynooth College from 23-27 July. The Assembly comprised over 140 universities from across five continents.

Archbishop Eamon Martin spoke about Catholic universities during his homily at the Mass to open the conference.

“Your task, as Catholic Universities, includes offering spaces for dialogue and encounter between faith and culture where your students can learn and test ideas, while being nourished by the very best of Christian scholarship. Not far from here,160 years ago, Blessed John Henry Newman founded his Catholic University. For Newman, a Catholic university was a space to cultivate the mind and to foster an intellect that is comprehensive and versatile enough to be able to instinctively evaluate ‘things as they pass before us’. A liberal education for Newman, was about forming the intellect to have a ‘connected view or grasp of things’, rather than simply to be dazzled by all that is new and different.”