2016 - “The Holy See’s Higher Education Policy from St. John Paul II to Pope Francis”
2016 - “The Holy See’s Higher Education Policy from St. John Paul II to Pope Francis”
Wednesday, April 6, 2016
Remick Commons, Visitation Hall
Rev. Friedrich Bechina, F.S.O., undersecretary of the Congregation for Catholic Education, was invited to give the 2016 Keeley Vatican Lecture. He delivered a lecture entitled “The Holy See’s Higher Education Policy from St. John Paul II to Pope Francis.” Father Bechina has since 2005 managed the Congregation for Catholic Education’s international activities in the area of higher education and represented the Holy See in relevant organizations and international initiatives.
A native of Vienna, Father Bechina served as in officer in the Austrian army and studied economics, philosophy and theology in Vienna and later at the Gregorian Pontifical University in Rome, from which he earned a doctoral degree in 1997 for his prize-winning doctoral thesis, “The Church as the Family of God.”
After years serving in parishes in Austrian Diocese of Feldkirch, Father Bechina was appointed to the Congregation for Catholic Education, and in 2013 became its undersecretary. Jointly responsible for more than 2,500 Catholic institutions of higher education, Father Bechina has since 2005 managed the congregation’s international activities in the area of higher education and represented the Holy See in relevant organizations and international initiatives.
Deepening Notre Dame's connection to the Holy See, the annual Terrence R. Keeley Vatican Lecture provides the Notre Dame community with the opportunity to interact with distinguished representatives from the Holy See and significant dioceses of Europe. Past lecturers have included Cardinal Angelo Amato, Cardinal Walter Kasper, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, Archbishop Jean-Louis Bruguès, Archbishop Salvatore Fisichella and Archbishop Charles J. Brown, Apostolic nuncio to Ireland. The lecture is sponsored by the Nanovic Institute for European Studies, an integral part of the new Keough School of Global Affairs.