Welcoming Speech of the Grand Chancellor Msgr. Dražen Kutleša at the Celebration of the Day of the Catholic University of Croatia

WELCOMING SPEECH OF THE ARCHBISHOP OF ZAGREB DRAŽEN KUTLEŠA
Celebration of the Day of the Catholic University of Croatia
Catholic University of Croatia, Aula Magna, June 1, 2026

I cordially greet you all in the order and honor with which you have already been greeted!

Twenty years ago, a bold vision matured within our local Church: that faith and reason, science and wisdom, academic excellence and evangelical responsibility should find a common home here. Therefore, today we do not only celebrate the anniversary of an institution, nor do we merely bless a renovated campus. Today, above all, we thank God for the mission entrusted to us.

It is a great honor to welcome among us Archbishop Filippo Iannone, Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, whose presence visibly connects us with the universal Church and the Petrine ministry of communion. Your presence, Your Excellency, reminds us that the Church lives from the universality of communion. In this sense, the Catholic University of Croatia is not only a project of the local Church; it is part of the intellectual and evangelizing mission of the universal Church.

Twenty years in God’s perspective is not much, but it is enough to recognize God’s handwriting. Today we can truly say: "Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain" (cf. Ps 127:1). Therefore, this day is, above all, an act of gratitude to God and a prayer that His help and guidance will not be lacking in the future.

Aware that we have inherited a treasure and a responsibility, and that we are not called merely to "maintain an institution," we wish to awaken the graceful fire of the first inspiration and the Church's constant call to examine the signs of the times and interpret them in the light of the Gospel (cf. GS 4).

The renovation of this campus is a visible sign of the internal renewal required of us. A beautiful and functional building without an evangelical soul would be just a pleasant space without purpose. Therefore, today, while we bless these walls, we pray that the Holy Spirit above all renews our hearts and prepares them for the mission.

I thank everyone who, through their vision, work, sacrifice, and generosity, contributed to the renovation of the campus. First and foremost, I thank His Eminence Cardinal Josip Bozanić, the founder of the Catholic University of Croatia and its long-time Grand Chancellor.

I thank all previous rectors, vice-rectors, board members, professors, staff, and students for their enthusiasm and trust in the Church's mission in the academic field.

I thank the state and city authorities, designers and contractors, as well as all benefactors from social, cultural, and economic life who recognized the value of this institution. Your contribution goes beyond infrastructure: it is inscribed in its spiritual history.

The Catholic University of Croatia does not exist to be one of many universities in Croatia and the world. Its mission is to be different: to be, as its name suggests, Croatian—to preserve the Croatian identity imbued with Christian culture and tradition—and simultaneously Catholic in the full sense of the word, that is, universal, open to the fullness of truth, reason, and faith, and to man in his entirety. Its mission is to nurture reason imbued with wisdom "which gently attracts the human mind to a quest and a love for what is true and good" (GS 15).

In this sense, the new encyclical of Pope Leo XIV, Magnifica Humanitas, is particularly precious to us, as it calls the Church, and especially university communities, to serious reflection on artificial intelligence and its impact on the dignity of the human person. It reminds us that technological progress, however fascinating, must not overcome the truth about man created in the image of God and that no algorithm can replace the human heart, conscience, and capacity for love. For the Catholic University of Croatia, this also means staying permanently vigilant so that research and teaching in the field of new technologies always take place in the light of the integral image of man created in the image of God and in service of the common good.

Therefore, we do not wish to educate only "experts" here, but evangelically wise people because, in the words of the Second Vatican Council, "the future of the world stands in peril unless wiser men are forthcoming" (cf. GS 15). In a world where it is possible to know much but understand little, a place where wisdom is born is needed; in a society where it is easy to network but difficult to truly encounter another, a center of true dialogue between faith and science, Church and society, is necessary.

Knowledge that does not become service remains unfinished, and education that does not give birth to responsibility remains incomplete. Precisely because of this, the Catholic University of Croatia is not only a gift from the Church to the Croatian people but also a serious obligation before God and before history. Our homeland still carries many wounds: the suffering of war, ideological divisions, demographic weakening, distrust in institutions, and social discouragement. In such a context, a Catholic university cannot remain closed in academic self-sufficiency, as if the questions of society do not concern it.

If people of conscience are not formed here, where will they be formed? If people capable of connecting expertise with moral responsibility are not raised here, where will they be raised for that? If young people are not taught here that love for the homeland is not an ideological slogan but a concrete service to the truth and the common good, where will they learn that?

Therefore, let the Catholic University of Croatia be a place where it is learned that love for the homeland is not measured by opposition to others but by serving the common good; a place where Christian faith is translated into a culture of honesty, justice, solidarity, and reconciliation. Only in this way will it remain faithful to its name and credible in its mission.

The twentieth anniversary is not only an occasion for celebration but also for an examination of conscience. Have we been brave enough in witnessing the faith during these twenty years? Have we been open enough to the poor, the wounded, and those on the margins of society? Have we sought excellence, not for prestige, but out of love for the truth?

We place the future of the Catholic University of Croatia into the hands of the One who is the "True Light"—Christ the Lord. May He preserve us from the spirit of mediocrity, from compromise with the truth, and from adapting to the spirit of the times at the expense of the Gospel. May He grant us the courage so that the Catholic University of Croatia does not indulge in passing trends but, in humble openness, serves the truth that sets us free.

With trust in God's help in the years to come and in communion with the whole Church, I invoke God’s blessing upon this renovated campus, and upon all who work, learn, and live within it. May the Lord complete what He has begun in us and in this institution.