The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1918-06-08
CONTINUED from page IL
The Church and Universities

the English and Scottish students
formed one and the Welsh and Irish
students the other. In 1874 these di-
visions united in one.
In 1909, owing to difficulties with
the people of Oxford, 5000 students
Papal Legate Nicholas arranged that
the Catholics should pay an annual
sum for the use of poor scholars.
The first statutes of the University
firmed by Pope Innocent " in 1854.
In the year lib Pope Clement V
issued bull for the founding of a
university in Ireland, near Dublin, but
it was not actually started until 1920;
and in the disturbed conditions of the
times, did not last longer than thirty
or forty years. The Irish parliament
of Drogheda founded one in 1865,
which failed to last through similar
causes. .
Previous to the Reformation eighty
one Catholic universities had been
started in Europe. Of these thirteen
had no charter; thirty-three had a
Papal charter and no civil charter;
twenty had both Papal and royal char
tiers and fifteen had royal charters
only.
The part the Papacy played in
higher education in these early times
needs no more striking illustration
than these facts And besides issu-
ing charters, the Popes used every
effort to encourage universities and
their students; to make the students
and anxiety should not take his at
tention from study.
Privileges of CIerics.
Clerics were allowed to be absent
from their benefices if they wished to
take courses at a university. The
Popes obtained for students special
exemption from taxation and military
service, and that they should not be
summoned away from their studies to
attend as witnesses in court at great
distance, and that their own legal mat
tiers be heard before the authorities of
the university they were attending.
Local conflicts and jealousy between
large bodies of students and towns
people of the place where the univer-
s1ty was situated were frequent; and
the Popes are on record over and
over again as taking the side of the
students and using their authority to
prevent strangers in a strange place
from being prosecuted or attacked.
Thus, Pope Gregory TX, in 1881,
found it necessary to issue a bull in
aid of the students in Paris who had
cause for complaint that they were i'll
used by the people of that town In
1870 Pope Honorius III used his au-
thority to prevent unfair treatment of
the students in Bologna by the local
authorities. H
In 1888 Pope Nicholas " gave the
local authorities in Padua fifteen days
to repeal certain bylaws they had
passed against the masters and schol-
ars of the university there; or other
wise the university to be closed. The
masters We're protected, also. The
chancellor of the University of Paris
sought to get the masters under his
thumb by making them swear obedi-
ence to him in 1912. Pope Innocent
III checked this little bit of tyranny.
It became quite common for uni
versities to lay their grievances be-
fore the Holy See; and they were al
ways heard with kindly sympathy. "A
common matter of appeal to the Pope
was the non-payment Of salaries of
the teachers. More than once the
Holy See had to see justice done in
such matters.
In many cases the only endowments
these universities had came from the
revenues Of monasteries and chapters.
Yes. from the very much and very