HAVING recently visited Campion College, a liberal arts Catholic university in Sydney, I was reminded of the great Cardinal Newman’s ideals of what a Catholic university should embody.
The reason for my visit was to take my grandson to a summer school for students entering Year 12 and as I had been involved on the foundation board of Campion I was interested to see if the dream of those foundation members who dared to think of establishing the first liberal arts university in Australia was succeeding as we had prayed it would.
I also wondered how Campion would stack up to the principles set by Cardinal Newman.
Let me list some of his criteria points:
– He defended the notion that knowledge is an important good in itself and that the knowledge of philosophical truths and history are a great good even when there are no immediate applications.
– To advance his argument he proposed that Catholic universities should have obligatory courses in philosophy, literature, history and theology both natural and revealed.
– Cardinal Newman proposed that for a renewal of Catholic identity in higher education there should be insistence on the harmony between faith and reason and an ardent commitment to Catholic truths.
Did I find at Campion College adherence to all that the cardinal proposed?
I am delighted to say I surely did.
Campion College offers students the freedom to learn from history through the great writers in classical literature, philosophy and moral theology.
The young men and women I spoke with after the four days living in at the summer school responded magnificently to the introductory lectures on these subjects which the college offers.
I can remember thinking at the time I served on the foundation board that Campion was educating the future leaders of this nation.
On this recent visit I firmly believe this to be true as Campion has been established on the principles and Catholic identity espoused by Blessed John Henry Newman.
PATTI SMITH
Toowong, Qld
