«Gravissimum Educationis» and the Jesuit Theologians of Loyola Province, Spain

Abstract

On October 28th, 1965, the Gravissimum Educationis was presented by Pope Paul VI and passed by the assembly of bishops. This declaration states: «In Catholic universities where there is no faculty of sacred theology, there should be established an institute or chair of sacred theology in which there should be lectures suited to lay students». On September 17th, 1967, the Faculty of Theology of Loyola, in the town of Oña (Burgos Province, Spain), was officially closed down. On the basis of the declaration on education passed at the Second Vatican Council, this Ecclesiastic Faculty of the Province of Loyola was moved to the Universidad de Deusto, in Bilbao (Basque Country, Spain). In the first part of this paper I present a careful study of the conflictive process of that move based on primary sources. In the second part I analyse the conditions that enabled the Jesuit theologians of the Province of Loyola living in Oña to carry out a rapid and effective reading of the Gravissimum Educationis.