Vatican calls rector of Peru's Pontifical University to Rome

Lima, Peru, Feb 14, 2012 / 02:06 pm MT ().-

The rector of the Pontifical University in Peru has been called to the Vatican to discuss the results of a recent apostolic visit to the school in the wake of its refusal to update its statutes according to Church directives.

The Apostolic Nunciature in Peru announced on Feb. 13 that Marcial Rubo will meet with Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone on Feb. 21.

The two are slated to discuss the conclusions of the visit that was carried out in December of 2011 by Cardinal Peter Erdo of Ezstergom-Budapest, president of the Council of European Bishops.

In 2010, the Constitutional Court of Peru acknowledged the right of the Archdiocese of Lima to have a seat on the university’s board of directors, but university administrators did not follow the order.

On Sept. 23, 2011, the university assembly led by Rubio voted to refuse to comply with the Vatican directive to modify its statutes in accord with the Church’s Ex Corde Ecclesiae. The decision put the university’s status as a pontifical and Catholic institution in jeopardy.

Administration officials were also ordered to acknowledge the Archdiocese of Lima’s right to elect the university rector from among three candidates proposed by the university assembly.

On Sept. 21, the Archdiocese of Lima announced the Holy See would appoint an apostolic visitor to investigate the dispute. Cardinal Erdo arrived in Lima in December and met with university officials, the Archbishop of Lima and others involved in the case. 

After the visitation concluded, some administrators said the Vatican’s directive was “non-binding” for the university.