Catholic University of Lublin – major events in 2023: launching a study programme for physicians, good enrolment, international collaboration, and evaluation results

Launching a study programme for prospective physicians, prestigious awards, meetings with interesting people, debates and events related to the most pressing problem of the day as well as the inauguration of the international project known as the Three Seas University Network are some of the elements of the year 2023 at the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin (KUL). As Rector of KUL Fr. Prof. Mirosław Kalinowski recalled, “Despite the 105 years of operation, the Univeresity is in top shape. It is vibrant and offers multiple noteworthy initiatives to the academic community”.

The Lublin Nobel Prize conferred on KUL. This is no doubt one of the highlights of January 2023. Criminal law Professor Małgorzata Gałązka from the KUL Institute of Legal Sciences won the Professor Edmund Prost Science Award of Lublin Region. The distinction was  granted for the monograph “Criminal Law Limits of Innovative Medical Intervention”. The unique honour is given each year to only one representative of the Lublin scientific community; this year as many as 14 scholars were nominated.

“Medical interventions engage human fundamental legal goods: health, life, right to self-determination, informational privacy. These are rights that the law, including criminal law, has always protected” – stressed Prof. Małgorzata Gałązka in an interview for Przegląd Uniwersytecki periodical.

A major event in February was a visit to the Catholic University of Lublin by the Albertine Friars, who provide aid to Ukraine, struggling with Russian aggression, and a meeting with Władysław Bartoszewski's son Teofil, who not only recalled his famous father in connection with the 15th anniversary of his receipt of an honorary doctorate from the Catholic University of Lublin, but also talked about the backstage of Polish politics and the importance of decency in this context. Another important matter for the academic community in February 2023 was the reminder that the Catholic University of Lublin fulfils the statutory criteria for applying to become a research university. “Out of the 14 scientific disciplines evaluated, as many as nine, i.e. the majority, received an A+ or A category”, said Damian Liszka, who heads the KUL Research Evaluation Department. As the expert emphasised, this evaluation contributes to building the brand of the Catholic University of Lublin as a leading and prestigious scientific centre.

March 2023 saw a successive edition of the University Areopagus; this time experts discussed refugees and war. “The attitude towards people in need of help is a measure of our humanity” this was the conclusion reached by experts from, among others, the Catholic University of Lublin, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, the University of Warsaw, and the Jagiellonian University, who took part in a debate in Poznań entitled “Refugees. Coexistence or assimilation? Social aspects of war”.

In March, too, Rector of the Catholic University of Lublin Fr. Prof. Mirosław Kalinowski set up the Polish Diaspora Centre, whose main tasks are cooperation with the Polish community, the media and Polish organisations, and the coordination and development of activities carried out by the Catholic University of Lublin for the Polish community, among others through the organisation of the Catholic University of Lublin Study Centre for the Polish Community and Poles Abroad.

An undoubtedly important debate for the Catholic University of Lublin was a meeting in March around media publications concerning Cardinal Karol Wojtyła. Historians and experts in the history of the Catholic Church in Poland discussed the accusations levelled against him, as well as the surveillance and repressions of the Security Service against the Catholic Church and the clergy during the communist period. The scholars agreed that diligent work by historians who are able to critically examine historical records and take into account the historical context of the events described by the media is crucial in this matter.

KUL also proposed interesting cultural events. In April, lovers of poetry, cinema and classic literature could discuss Jan Kochanowski’s Threnodies, a masterpiece of Polish literature, and its unique reflective and oneiric film adaptation directed by Damian Bieniek. The event, held as part of the Catholic University of Lublin's Festival of Polish Studies, attracted more than 550 people, mainly secondary school students and their teachers. During the discussion accompanying the screening, attended by literary scholars, musicologists and art historians, young people could learn not only about the significance of one of the key texts of Polish literary heritage, but also about the mechanisms of translating the language of poetry into that of film, in this case the outstanding funeral lyric by Jan of Czarnolas into the scenes and images of cinema.

The Three Seas University Network is an initiative of the Catholic University of Lublin. It was launched, in the presence of the highest state authorities, including President Andrzej Duda, in May during the Self-Government Congress of Three Seas. KUL is the leader of this international undertaking (3SUN - The Three Seas University Network), which is intended to lay the foundations of a lasting and stable partnership of universities from as many as 12 countries of said region, i.e. between the Baltic Sea, the Adriatic, and the Black Sea.

In May the University held the traditional Kulturalia 2023, with concerts in the courtyard of the Main Building by stars such as Happysad, Sylwia Grzeszczak, Ania Karwan, and Natalia Szroeder. Part of the proceeds from the tickets was donated to the Good Samaritan Hospice in Lublin. Days of Student Culture - KULturalia (formerly known as Kullages) is a cyclical, flagship project of the KUL Students' Union, organised since the early 1970s and promoting high student culture.

Moreover, in May 2023 Prof. Peter Trudgill from the United Kingdom, one of the world’s preeminent sociolinguists and dialectologists, received an honorary doctorate from the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin.

Also in May the University launched the Centre for Diplomacy Research, tasked with e.g. collaboration with international research institutions studying foreign policies, international relations, and diplomacy. The lecture “How much God in contemporary diplomacy?” was delivered during the even by Director of the Diplomatic Academy in Vienna Emil Brix.

In June, KUL was visited by chief executives of Vatican media. “We need media that help to foster dialogue and build bridges rather than divide and erect walls” – said Dr Andrea Tornielli and Dr Massimiliano Menichetti, who attended the meeting “Contemporary Media and Technologies in the Communication of the Church”. Both Italian experts, in charge of e.g. Vatican News, highlighted the fact that fundamental for the work of communications media is the truth told through the witness and accounts of people and their life experience.

In June, we also learned that KUL was eligible to confer the doctoral and postdoctoral degrees in three other disciplines: medical biology, biblical sciences, and family sciences. They are added to the previous entitlements of the University to confer such degrees in 14 disciplines: legal sciences, sociological sciences, pedagogy, canon law, psychology, philosophy, history, linguistics, literary sciences, arts sciences, theological sciences, biological sciences, as well as political sciences and administration.

There was no shortage of interesting events during the holiday period, either. One of them was the ceremony honouring Prof. Stefan Sawicki with the Order of Saint Gregory the Great was significant. On 18 July This eminent theoretician and historian of literature, as well as an accomplished expert in the works of Cyprian Norwid, received both the papal order and the Medal of the Minister of Education – Science Sapientia et Veritas for Distinguished Service to Polish Science. “The Catholic University of Lublin has been my great life adventure, and at the risk of being accused of triviality, I will even say: my love” - said the 96-year-old laureate.

In July we also learnt the results of this year's enrolment for Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees at KUL. Over 7.5 thousand candidates applied in 2023, up by almost 2.5 thousand than the previous year. The most popular field of study turned out to be the newly created medicine, as almost 1.5 thousand candidates applied to study it. As sixty freshmen were admitted, almost 25 people applied for one place in the study programme. Also popular were such majors as psychology, Italian studies (remote learning), criminology, nursing, management, English Studies, law.

During the summer holidays in August, the Catholic University of Lublin once again brought together young Poles from all over the world. For one week, the House of Creative Work of the Catholic University of Lublin in Kazimierz Dolny became a meeting place and workshop venue for a group of 25 young Poles from the USA, England, Germany, France, and Italy. It is an project carried out by the Polish Diaspora Centre of the Catholic University of Lublin together with the Foundation for the Development of the Catholic University of Lublin, which gives Polish young people a chance to immerse themselves in the culture, language and history of Poland, to establish international relations and build lasting friendships among their Polish peers.

The Lublin Science Festival, which took place in September for the 19th time under the motto Science for the Future, brought not only a record number of events, but also unforgettable experiences, inspiring lectures, and workshops. Along with the other cities hosting the Lublin Science Festival: Chełm, Puławy, Stalowa Wola, and Zamość, Lublin turned into a centre of scientific fascination, inspiration, and knowledge sharing. This year John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin was the principal coordinator of the festival. The events were uniquely announced during a meeting with a guest of honour, Dr Sławosz Uznański, a project astronaut at te European Space Agency (ESA).

The debate “On the Prophets of Freedom in Times of Enslavement”, i.e. about Cardinal Karol Wojtyła and Father Franciszek Blachnicki, was the first important event of the new academic year, inaugurated in mid-October. An honorary doctorate of the Catholic University of Lublin was awarded on this occasion to Rabbi Abraham Skorka, a religious scholar, biophysicist, and a teacher of Judaism, who has for many years been involved in the Christian-Catholic dialogue. Recalling his meetings with Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, the current Pope Francis, the rabbi stressed that “a real turning point in relations between Jews and Catholics requires much more than mere meetings, namely an observation based on moral greatness and spiritual courage. Poland was the country where my ancestors had lived for generations. Their culture was my spiritual nourishment”.

In October, the first students began studying medicine. That month the University hosted a Congress of Theologians “Faith and Theology Closer to Us”, and a ceremony to remind us that the Catholic University of Lublin has offered classes to prisoners for more than 10 years. At the Remand Prison in Lublin, a group of 20 inmates who started their studies at the Catholic University of Lublin were granted student rights. The inauguration lecture “Quo Vadis Samaritana?” was delivered by a cardiac surgery and clinical transplantation expert, Prof. Michał O. Zembala from the School of Medicine at KUL. The lecturer observed that one must never give up. Studies at KUL are to help the inmates receive higher education and acquire major ethical and humanistic values. The BA and MA studies are carried out within the Family Studies programme.

In November, the Polish Diaspora Centre for of the Catholic University of Lublin launched the third edition of the Studies for Poles Abroad. More than one and a half thousand people from 30 countries applied to the 18 courses offered by the Catholic University of Lublin: artificial intelligence, speech therapy, mediation and negotiation, effective management, culture of the Polish language, and courses in reportage and journalistic interviewing. The largest number of participants, over 400, came from the UK, but the offer is also popular in Germany and France and other much more distant countries.

 

***

From the perspective of the past 12 months of work, it was a very intensive but successful year. “Our university has done very well in terms of media visibility, as evidenced by numerous publications in local, national, and international media. On several occasions we have been among the top Polish universities when it comes to social media management” - says Monika Stojowska, Deputy Spokesperson for KUL. One token of recognition in this respect is the first place in the March 2023 ranking of the Institute of research of the Internet and Social Media.

***

2023 was also a year of intensive work by the Abraham J. Heschel Centre for Catholic-Jewish Relations at the Catholic University of Lublin. The Centre has been an active ambassador of our University and the Church in Poland, undertaking cooperation and discussions with over a dozen universities and entities responsible for research, education, and Christian-Jewish dialogue in the world, commemorating significant anniversaries and organising religious and cultural events at the Catholic University of Lublin (such as Day of Judaism, Hanukkah at the Catholic University of Lublin), by publishing and promoting books for dialogue and mutual understanding of Polish-Jewish history (book Wartime Rescue of Jews by the Polish Catholic Clergy and a publication on the Ulma family). The Heschel Center also prepared a visit and recording for the Berkeley Center with Prof. Rabbi Abraham Skorka, sponsored a series of multimedia Christian-Jewish biblical commentaries, and conducted student exchanges.