SACRAMENTO, California, JAN. 8, 2003 (Zenit.org).- Bishop William Weigand says the Legion of Christ has accepted his invitation to develop a private, four-year Catholic university in the Sacramento region.
«This is wonderful news for everyone in the greater Sacramento area, but especially for the more than 500,000 Catholics who live within the Diocese of Sacramento,» said Bishop Weigand. «A Catholic university has been long needed in the diocese.»
The University of Sacramento, as the school will be called, will be an independent institution of higher learning operated by the Legion, a religious congregation. An opening date for the school is still to be announced.
The Legion operates 11 universities in Mexico, Spain, Chile and Italy, and a graduate school of psychology in Virginia.
«We are very pleased to receive the formal invitation and approval of Bishop Weigand,» said Father Anthony Bannon, territorial director of the Legion in the United States. «This will be our first university within the United States, and Sacramento has been our preferred location for nearly two years.»
The university intends to have a graduate school in downtown Sacramento and a main campus elsewhere in the region.