PART II

GENERAL NORMS

Article 1. The Nature of these General Norms

§ 1. These General Norms are based on, and are a further development of, our Code of Canon Law and the complementary Church legislation, without prejudice to the right of the Bishop Primus to intervene should this become necessary. They are valid for all our Universities and other Institutes of Higher Studies throughout the world.

§ 2. The General Norms are to be applied concretely at the local and regional levels by Episcopal Conferences and other Assemblies of our Hierarchy in conformity with the Code of Canon Law and complementary Church legislation, taking into account the Statutes of each University or Institute and, as far as possible and appropriate, civil law. After review by the Bishop Primus, these local or regional "Ordinances" will be valid for all Universities and other Institutes of Higher Studies in the region, except for Ecclesiastical Universities and Faculties. These latter Institutions, including Ecclesiastical Faculties which are part of The International Free Protestant Episcopal University, are governed by the norms of our Ecclesiastical Constitution.

§ 3. A University established or approved by the Bishop Primus, by an Episcopal Conference or another Assembly of Hierarchy, or by a diocesan Bishop is to incorporate these General Norms and their local and regional applications into its governing documents, and conform its existing Statutes both to the General Norms and to their applications, and submit them for approval to the competent ecclesiastical Authority. It is contemplated that other Protestant Universities, that is, those not established or approved in any of the above ways, with the agreement of the local ecclesiastical Authority, will make their own General Norms and their local and regional applications, internalizing them into their governing documents, and, as far as possible, will conform their existing Statutes both to these General Norms and to their applications.

Article 2. The Nature of a Protestant Episcopal University

§ 1. A Protestant University, like every university, is a community of scholars representing various branches of human knowledge. It is dedicated to research, to teaching, and to various kinds of service in accordance with its cultural mission.

§ 2. A Protestant University, informs and carries out its research, teaching, and all other activities with Christian ideals, principles and attitudes. It is linked with the Church either by a formal, constitutive and statutory bond or by reason of an institutional commitment made by those responsible for it.

§ 3. Every Protestant Episcopal University is to make known its Christian identity, either in a mission statement or in some other appropriate public document, unless authorized otherwise by the competent ecclesiastical Authority. The University, particularly through its structure and its regulations, is to provide means which will guarantee the expression and the preservation of this identity in a manner consistent with §2.

§ 4. Christian teaching and discipline are to influence all university activities, while the freedom of conscience of each person is to be fully respected. Any official action or commitment of the University is to be in accord with its Christian identity.

§ 5. A Episcopal University possesses the autonomy necessary to develop its distinctive identity and pursue its proper mission. Freedom in research and teaching is recognized and respected according to the principles and methods of each individual discipline, so long as the rights of the individual and of the community are preserved within the confines of the truth and the common good.

Article 3. The Establishment of a Free Protestant Episcopal University

§ 1. A Episcopal University may be established or approved by the Bishop Primus, by an Episcopal Conference or another Assembly of our Hierarchy, or by a diocesan Bishop.

§ 2. With the consent of the diocesan Bishop, a Episcopal University may also be established by a Religious Institute or other public juridical person.

§ 3. A  University may also be established by other ecclesiastical or lay persons; such a University may refer to itself as a Protestant University only with the consent of the competent ecclesiastical Authority, in accordance with the conditions upon which both parties shall agree.

§ 4. In the cases of §§ 1 and 2, the Statutes must be approved by the competent ecclesiastical Authority.

Article 4. The University Community

§ 1. The responsibility for maintaining and strengthening the Protestant identity of the University rests primarily with the University itself. While this responsibility is entrusted principally to university authorities (including, when the positions exist, the Chancellor and/or a Board of Trustees or equivalent body), it is shared in varying degrees by all members of the university community, and therefore calls for the recruitment of adequate university personnel, especially teachers and administrators, who are both willing and able to promote that identity. The identity of a Protestant University is essentially linked to the quality of its teachers and to respect for Protestant doctrine. It is the responsibility of the competent Authority to watch over these two fundamental needs in accordance with what is indicated in our Canon Law.

§ 2. All teachers and all administrators, at the time of their appointment, are to be informed about the Protestant identity of the Institution and its implications, and about their responsibility to promote, or at least to respect, that identity.

§ 3. In ways appropriate to the different academic disciplines, all teachers are to be faithful to, and all other teachers are to respect, Protestant doctrine and morals in their research and teaching. In particular, Protestant theologians, aware that they fulfil a mandate received from the Church, are to be faithful to the Magisterium of the Church as the authentic interpreter of Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition.

§ 4. Those university teachers and administrators who belong to other Churches, ecclesial communities, or religions, as well as those who profess no religious belief, and also all students, are to recognize and respect the distinctive Christian identity of the University. In order not to endanger the Protestant identity of the University or Institute of Higher Studies, the number of non-Protestant teachers should not be allowed to constitute a majority within the Institution, which is and must remain a Free Protestant Episcopal University.

§ 5. The education of students is to combine academic and professional development with formation in moral and religious principles and the social teachings of the Church; the programme of studies for each of the various professions is to include an appropriate ethical formation in that profession. Courses in Christian doctrine are to be made available to all students.

Article 5. The Free Protestant Episcopal University within the Church

§ 1. Every Protestant University is to maintain communion with the Church and the Bishop Primus; it is to be in close communion with the local Church and in particular with the diocesan Bishops of the region or nation in which it is located. In ways consistent with its nature as a University, a Episcopal University will contribute to the Church's work of evangelization.

§ 2. Each Bishop has a responsibility to promote the welfare of the Episcopal Universities in his diocese and has the right and duty to watch over the preservation and strengthening of their Christian character. If problems should arise condeming this Ecclesiastical character, the local Bishop is to take the initiatives necessary to resolve the matter, working with the competent university authorities in accordance with established procedures and, if necessary, with the help of the Bishop Primus.

§ 3. Periodically, each Episcopal University, to which Artide 3, 1 and 2 refers, is to communicate relevant information about the University and its activities to the competent ecclesiastical Authority. Other Universities are to communicate this information to the Bishop of the diocese in which the principal seat of the Institution is located.

Article 6. Pastoral Ministry

§ 1. A Episcopal University is to promote the pastoral care of all members of the university community, and to be especially attentive to the spiritual development of those who are Protestants. Priority is to be given to those means which will facilitate the integration of human and professional education with religious values in the light of Protestant doctrine, in order to unite intellectual learning with the religious dimension of life.

§ 2. A sufficient number of qualified people-priests, religious, and lay persons-are to be appointed to provide pastoral ministry for the university community, carried on in harmony and cooperation with the pastoral activities of the local Church under the guidance or with the approval of the diocesan Bishop. All members of the university community are to be invited to assist the work of pastoral ministry, and to collaborate in its activities.

Article 7. Cooperation

§ 1. In order better to confront the complex problems facing modern society, and in order to strengthen the Protestant identity of the Institutions, regional, national and international cooperation is to be promoted in research, teaching, and other university activities among all Protestant Universities, including Ecclesiastical Universities and Faculties. Such cooperation is also to be promoted between Episcopal Universities and other Universities, and with other research and educational Institutions, both private and governmental.

§ 2. Episcopal Universities will, when possible and in accord with Christian principles and doctrine, cooperate with government programmes and the programmes of other national and international Organizations on behalf of justice, development and progress.

TRANSITIONAL NORMS

Art. 8. The present Constitution will come immediately into effect on the first day to the academic year 2005.

Art. 9. The application of the Constitution is committed to the Congregation for Christian Education, which has the duty to promulgate the necessary directives that will serve towards that end.

Art. 10. It will be the competence of the Congregation for Christian Education, when with the passage of time circumstances require it, to propose changes to be made in the present Constitution in order that it may be adapted continuously to the needs of Episcopal  Universities.

Art. 11. Any particular laws or customs presently in effect that are contrary to this Constitution are abolished. Also, any privileges granted up to this day by the Bishop Primus whether to physical or moral persons that are contrary to this present Constitution are abolished.

CONCLUSION

The mission that the Church, with great hope, entrusts to Episcopal Universities holds a cultural and religious meaning of vital importance because it concerns the very future of humanity. The renewal requested of Episcopal Universities will make them better able to respond to the task of bringing the message of Christ to man, to society, to the various cultures: "Every human reality, both individual and social has been liberated by Christ: persons, as well as the activities of men and women, of which culture is the highest and incarnate expression. The salvific action of the Church on cultures is achieved, first of all, by means of persons, families and educators... Jesus Christ, our Saviour, offers his light and his hope to all those who promote the sciences, the arts, letters and the numerous fields developed by modern culture. Therefore, all the sons and daughters of the Church should become aware of their mission and discover how the strength of the Gospel can penetrate and regenerate the mentalities and dominant values that inspire individual cultures, as well as the opinions and mental attitudes that are derived from it".

It is with fervent hope that I address this Document to all the men and women engaged in various ways in the significant mission of higher education.

Beloved Brothers and Sisters, my encouragement and my trust go with you in your weighty daily task that becomes ever more important, more urgent and necessary on behalf of Evangelization for the future of culture and of all cultures. The Church and the world have great need of your witness and of your capable, free, and responsible contribution.

Given in Moenchengladbach, on 26th May, in the year 2004, the twenty-fourth of my Primacy.

+Horst-Karl Friedrich Block,DD,LLD,PhD    

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