(ZENIT News / Rome, 28.03.2023).- The 2023 edition has been published of the famous QS World University Rankings. It reveals a striking fact. None of Rome’s Pontifical Universities is listed in one of the 140 places reported in the category “Theology, Divinity and Religious Studies” for 2023.
Ranked at the top of the list to study Catholic Theology is the University of Notre Dame in the United States. There are other Catholic Universities in the following ranked places:
10 Boston College (United States)
23 Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium)
33Pontifical University of Comillas (Spain)
34 Catholic University of Australia (Australia)
35 University of Navarre (Spain)
40 Catholic University of America (USA)
47 Georgetown University (USA)
49 Fordham University (USA)
- Between 51 and 100
Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina (Argentina)
Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (Chile)
Catholic University of the Sacred Heart (Italy)
- Between 100 and 140
Pontifical Xaverian University (Colombia)
Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo (Brazil)
Saint Clare University (USA)
University of the Andes (Chile)
Several conclusions stem from this data: the first is that the Italian University with the best position is that of the Sacred Heart of Milan. Another fact is that, by belonging, the best ranked Universities in Theology in the Catholic ambit are of the Jesuits or of the Opus Dei.
Finally, the ranking shows that the United States is the best country to study Catholic Theology and that Europe is no longer the Continent with the best Catholic Universities when it comes to Theology.
Since 2007, beginning under Benedict XVI, the Holy See has promoted the Holy See Agency for the Evaluation and Promotion of the Quality of Ecclesiastical Universities and Faculties (AVEPRO). It is concerned with fostering and developing a quality culture within the academic institutions that depend on the Holy See, to ensure valid qualitative criteria at the international level.
