John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin

2025-06-25T17:23:36Z

2A00:F41:28C3:ED88:78C0:7D4E:FFCB:72A1: infobox

{{Short description|Catholic university in Lublin, Poland}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}}
{{Infobox university
|name = John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin
|native_name = Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II
|latin_name = Catholica Universitas Lublinensis Ioannis Pauli II
|image = LogoKUL.png
|image_size = 175px
|motto =
|established = 27 July 1918
|type = Private Catholic university
|endowment =
| religious_affiliation = [[Catholic Church]]
|staff =
|faculty =
|rector = Miroslaw Kalinowski
|students = 8,306 (2024)<ref>{{Cite web |title=KUL - Biuletyn Informacji Publicznej - KUL w liczbach |url=https://bip.kul.lublin.pl/kul-w-liczbach,16069.html |access-date=2025-01-11 |website=bip.kul.lublin.pl}}</ref>
|undergrad =
|postgrad =
|city = [[Lublin]]
|country = [[Poland]]
|affiliations = [[European University Association|EUA]]<br>[[Socrates-Erasmus]]
|footnotes =
|website = [http://www.kul.lublin.pl/21.html/ kul.lublin.pl]
|address = Al. Racławickie 14, 20–950
}}

{{Commons category|Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II}}

'''John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin''' ({{langx|pl|Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II}}, {{langx|la|Universitas Catholica Lublinensis Ioannis Pauli II}}, abbreviation '''KUL''') is a university established in 1918.

== History ==
[[:pl:Idzi Radziszewski|Father Idzi Benedykt Radziszewski]] founded the university in 1918. [[Vladimir Lenin|Lenin]] allowed the priest to take the library and equipment of the [[Saint Petersburg Roman Catholic Theological Academy]] to Poland to launch the university just as Poland regained its independence.<ref name="pp2bio">{{cite book|author=Weigel, George|title=Witness of Hope – The Biography of Pope John Paul II|publisher=HarperCollins|year=2001}}</ref>

The aim of the university was to be a modern place of higher education that would conduct research in the spirit of harmony between science and faith. The university sought to produce a new Catholic intelligentsia that would play a leading role in Poland. The number of students increased from 399 in 1918–19, to 1440 in 1937–38. This growth was interrupted by the outbreak of the Second World War and [[Nazi Germany]]'s [[Invasion of Poland|occupation of Poland]]. Of all the universities located in the German-occupied territory, the University of Lublin was the only one to resume work in October 1939. On 23 November 1939, the [[Nazis]] [[Executions in Rury Jezuickie|executed]] a number of academic workers, including, among others, professors Michał Niechaj and Czesław Martyniak.<ref name="Redzik">Adam Redzik. "[http://www.gomezurdanez.com/polonia/adamredzikpolishuniversitas.pdf Polish Universities During the Second World War]". ''Encuentros de Historia Comparada Hispano-Polaca Conference''. 2004.</ref>

The university was ordered shut down and its buildings were converted into a military hospital.<ref>R. Sikorski, L. Kowieski. "Reception and Assimilation of Innovative Medical Ideas in Poland in the 19th and early 20th Centuries". ''Clinical Teaching, Past and Present''. Vol. 21. No. 1/4. 1987–88, pg. 101.</ref> Nevertheless, the university carried on its teaching activities in secret. After the invasion of Lublin in July 1944 by the [[Red Army]], the university reopened on 21 August 1944. Since then the university has functioned without interruption. The university stayed open during the years Poland was under Communist control between 1944 and 1989, though some of its faculties did not. The faculties of law, social science and education were shut down between 1953 and 1956.<ref name="pp2bio"/> It was the only independent, Catholic university in existence in the entire [[Soviet bloc]]. Given that the Communist governments all insisted on having a total monopoly of control over educational institutions, the preservation of its independence was a great achievement.<ref name=":0" />

The university was often harassed in various ways by the Communist authorities, especially in the 1950s and the 1960s. The university faculty were under frequent surveillance by the secret police. Periodically some faculties were denied by the state the right to grant graduate degrees. The employment prospects of its graduates were limited.{{Citation needed|date=November 2008}}

Despite the difficulties, the university's independence was maintained and it never adopted Marxist dogmas taught at all the other state universities. It served as a haven for students who were expelled from state universities for political reasons.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Uncivil Society: 1989 and the implosion of the communist establishment|last=Kotkin, Stephen|first=Gross, Jan T.|publisher=Modern Library|year=2009|isbn=978-0679642763|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780679642763}}</ref>

After the fall of Communism in Poland in 1989, the university has flourished, quadrupling its student population and greatly expanding its campus. In 2010 the university was involved in a scandal concerning the granting of PhDs by departments that were not allowed to grant them, due to not having a sufficient number of academic staff.<ref>[http://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/Wiadomosci/1,80273,5082590.html "Czy wydział KUL umie liczyć do dziesięciu?"], Wiadomosci.gazeta.pl; retrieved 12 October 2011.{{in lang|pl}}</ref>

== Rankings ==
[[File:Biblioteka kul.jpg|thumb|University Library]]The university has had a steady advance in university rankings. In 2011, it was placed 8th among all Polish universities.<ref>[http://szkoly.wprost.pl/ranking/ide,25/idk,23/edycja-2011-Szkoly-panstwowe.html "Ranking Szkół Wyższych – edycja 2011"], Szkoly.wprost.pl; retrieved 12 October 2011.{{in lang|pl}}</ref> Also in 2011, ''[[Wprost]]'' magazine ranked it 15th<ref>[http://www.gazetastudencka.pl/item-13-student-Studia-w-Polsce-B.html "Studia w Polsce B, Potęga statystyk"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111003162211/http://www.gazetastudencka.pl/item-13-student-Studia-w-Polsce-B.html |date= 3 October 2011 }}, Gazetastudencka.pl; retrieved 12 October 2011.{{in lang|pl}}</ref> among humanity universities. Before that, in 2006 ''[[Newsweek Polska]]'' ranked the university 54th<ref>[http://www.student.lublin.pl/index2.html?akcja=news&kid=15&id=4457 "Ranking uczelni wg Newsweeka (Polish)"]{{dead link|date=April 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}. Student.lublin.pl. Retrieved on 12 October 2011.</ref> among all Polish universities.

In 2011–12, the university's philosophy program was ranked first in Poland by the Polish Accreditation Agency, distinguished twice, receiving 9 million PLN total in grants that year as a result.{{citation needed|date=February 2016}}

== Notable alumni and professors ==
* [[Pope John Paul II]] (Karol Wojtyła), the most famous person associated with the university. Wojtyła earned a licentiate in theology in July 1947, and successfully defended his doctoral thesis entitled ''Doctrina de fide apud S. Ioannem a Cruce'' (''Doctrine of Faith in St. John of the Cross'') in philosophy on 19 June 1948 at the [[Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas|Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, ''Angelicum'']] in Rome.<ref>[https://www.vatican.va/news_services/press/documentazione/documents/santopadre_biografie/giovanni_paolo_ii_biografia_prepontificato_en.html#1948 ''Doctrina de fide apud S. Ioannem a Cruce''], vatican.va; accessed 6 October 2012.</ref> Although his doctoral work was unanimously approved in June 1948, he was denied the degree because he could not afford to print the text of his dissertation (an ''Angelicum'' rule). In December of that year, a revised text of his dissertation was approved by the theological faculty of [[Jagiellonian University]] in [[Kraków]], and Wojtyła was awarded the degree. He became a part-time teacher of philosophy at KUL starting in 1954, sharing his time between teaching in Lublin and doing his pastoral work in [[Kraków]]. After he became archbishop of Kraków in 1963 and a cardinal in 1967, his duties limited the time he was able to spend teaching in Lublin, and his students often commuted to his lectures in Kraków. His involvement with the university continued until he was elected pope in 1978. All of his philosophical works were published in Lublin.
* [[Andrzej Szostek]], a Marian order priest who was a student of the future Pope.<ref name="resignation">{{cite news|last=Luxmoore|first=Jonathan|date=October 8, 2020|title=Polish student of John Paul II resigns in row over LGBT rights|publisher=The Tablet|url=https://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/13445/polish-student-of-john-paul-ii-resigns-in-row-over-lgbt-rights|access-date=October 17, 2020}}</ref> Stayed on as a professor until 2020 and served as the university's rector between 1998 and 2004.<ref name=resignation />
* [[Stefan Wyszyński]], [[Cardinal (Catholic Church)|Cardinal]] [[Primate (bishop)|Primate]] of Poland
* [[Servant of God]] [[Jacek Woroniecki]] (1878–1949), [[theologian]], [[philosopher]], [[Dominican order|Dominican]] lecturer at the University of Lublin in [[moral theology]], [[Rector (academia)|rector]] of the [[university]] (1922–1924)
* [[Michał Heller]], priest, academic and philosopher, awarded with [[Templeton Prize]] in 2008
* [[Józef Życiński]], priest, Roman Catholic [[Metropolitan Archbishop]], academic
* [[Edward Stachura]], poet and writer
* [[Janusz Krupski]], historian
* [[Janusz Palikot]], politician, activist and businessman
* [[Wojciech Siemion]], stage and film actor
* [[Beata Mazurek]], politician, Deputy Marshal of the [[Sejm]]
* [[Józef Milik]], priest, [[Bible]] scholar
* [[Jerzy Popiełuszko]], a Polish [[Roman Catholic]] priest who became associated with the opposition [[Solidarity (Polish trade union)|Solidarity]] trade union in [[Polish People's Republic|communist Poland]]. He has been recognized as a [[martyr]] by the Roman Catholic Church, and was [[beatification|beatified]] on 6 June 2010.
* [[Paweł Brodzisz]], a Polish painter, photographer, graphic artist, he is also a regionalist, focusing on the [[Lublin Voivodeship|Lublin]]<ref name="pawel-brodzisz-umsc">{{cite web|access-date=2025-05-03 |date=2021-05-03 |language=pl |title=Mgr inż. Paweł Brodzisz – UMCS. |url=https://www.umcs.pl/pl/slownik-biograficzny-absolwentow-umcs,6372,pawel,18481.chtm |website=UMCS.pl}}</ref><ref name="dziennik-wschodni-pl">{{cite web|access-date=2025-05-03 |date=2016-03-24 |language=pl |title=Dziennik Wschodni – Odyniec Kultury dla Pawła Brodzisza. |url=https://www.dziennikwschodni.pl/leczna/odyniec-kultury-dla-pawla-brodzisza,n,1000178043.html |website=dziennikwschodni.pl}}</ref> and [[Silesian Voivodeship|Silesia]] regions.<ref name="architektura-slaska-w-miniaturze">{{cite web|access-date=2025-05-03 |date=2013-10-18 |language=pl |title=Architektura Śląska w miniaturze. |url=https://muzeumminiaturowejsztukiprofesjonalnejhenrykjandominiak.eu/wp/architektura-slaska-w-miniaturze/ |website=muzeumminiaturowejsztukiprofesjonalnejhenrykjandominiak.eu}}</ref><ref name="architektura-slaska-w-miniaturze-2">{{cite web|access-date=2025-05-03 |date=2025-01-21 |language=pl |title=Architektura Śląska w miniaturze 2. |url=https://muzeumminiaturowejsztukiprofesjonalnejhenrykjandominiak.eu/wp/architektura-slaska-w-miniaturze-2/ |website=muzeumminiaturowejsztukiprofesjonalnejhenrykjandominiak.eu}}</ref>
* [[Jerzy Kłoczowski]], one of the greatest Polish historians of the 20th century
* [[Bogdan Borusewicz]], politician, senator, communist dissident, Marshal of the [[Senate of Poland|Senate]]
* [[Kazimierz Nycz]], priest, [[Roman Catholic]] Cardinal, [[Archbishop of Warsaw]]
* [[Agnieszka Dudzińska]], sociologist
* [[Ivan Bazarko]], lawyer and political activist
* [[Kazimierz Jodkowski]], philosopher and professor

== See also ==
* [[List of modern universities in Europe (1801–1945)]]
* [[Lublin Thomism]]
{{portal bar|Catholicism|Education|Poland}}

== Notes ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.kul.pl/21.html English web page of the Catholic University of Lublin]

{{Universities in Poland}}
{{John Paul II}}
{{Christian universities in Europe}}
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{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:John Paul Ii Catholic University of Lublin}}
[[Category:John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin| ]]
[[Category:Society of Poland|Polish society]]
[[Category:Catholic universities and colleges in Poland]]
[[Category:Universities and colleges established in 1918]]
[[Category:1918 establishments in Poland]]
[[Category:Pope John Paul II]]
[[Category:Universities and colleges in Lublin]]

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John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin