The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin

The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin is one of the oldest Polish universities. Throughout its nearly 100-year history, it has been one of the most important centres of Catholic thought, making an enduring contribution to the intellectual and cultural life of both Poland and the wider world.

The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin is one of the fastest developing universities in Poland. World-leading research, whose profile is determined by the humanistic traditions of the university, is carried out here in the fields of theology, philosophy, social sciences, law, humanities and natural sciences. This expresses the university’s commitment to openness in research which has wide-ranging impact on society and which has established the university’s reputation as an international centre of research excellence. Through their passionate devotion nearly 1100 highly qualified professionals comprising the academic staff of the university provide limitless opportunities for academic growth. Through the years many great minds have been attracted to Lublin, among them Rev. Karol Wojtyla known as Saint John Paul II.

As a world-renowned research centre, the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin is a member of many prestigious organisations and associations such as the International Federation of Catholic Universities, the European Federation of Catholic Universities, and the European University Association. Additionally, the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin has exchange partnerships with almost 200 universities all over the world, resulting in joint research projects and guest lectures held at KUL by leading academics from Poland and abroad.

The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin has nearly 14,000 students at all levels of study. The university offers degree programs at the bachelor's, master's, and doctoral levels. The university welcomes students from around the world, offering them degree programs in English. At KUL there are students from the USA, China, Iran, Nigeria, Brazil, Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia and many EU countries. International students can learn about the Polish language and culture at the School of Polish Language and Culture, which provides courses in the Polish language.

KUL’s academic structure consists of eight faculties: Faculty of Theology, Faculty of Law, Canon Law and Administration, Faculty of Philosophy, Faculty of Humanities, Faculty of Social Sciences, Faculty of Biotechnology and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Mathematics, Informatics and Landscape Architecture, Off-campus Faculty in Stalowa Wola and the College of Interdisciplinary Individual Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences.

Father Idzi Radziszewski founded the university in 1918. Vladimir 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.

The aim of the university was to be a modern place of higher education which would conduct research in the spirit of harmony between science and faith. The university sought to produce a new Catholic intelligentsia which would play a leading role in.

The number of students increased from 399 in 1918–1919 to 1440 in 1937–1938.[citation needed] This growth was interrupted by the outbreak of the Second World War and Nazi Germany's 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 executed a number of academic workers, among others, professors Michał Niechaj and Czesław Martyniak.

The university was ordered shut down and its buildings were converted into a military hospital. 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. 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.

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.

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.

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 which were not allowed to grant them, due to not having the sufficient number of academic staff.

In October, Professor Fr. Andrzej Szostek, a Marian order priest who studied with the future Pope John Paul II, resigned from the University in protest to the University's decision to reprimand fellow-priest and ethics professor Alfred Wierzbicki for publicly questioning a recent Bishops’ Conference statement on LBGT issues. Szostek had also served as the University's rector between 1998 and 2004, while Wierzbicki served as head of the University's John Paul II Institute.

Ranking

The University has had a steady advance in University rankings. In 2011, it was placed 8th among all Polish universities. Also in 2011, Wprost magazine ranked it 15th among humanity universities. Before that, in 2006 Newsweek Polska ranked the university 54th 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.