John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin

John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin (in Polish Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II, or KUL) is located in Lublin, Poland. Presently it has an enrollment of over 19,000 students. It has eightfaculties: Theology, Philosophy, Law, Canon Law and Administration, Social Sciences, Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Humanities, Legal and Economic Sciences in Tomaszów Lubelski, Social Sciences in Stalowa Wola. It is the only private college in Poland with the status of a university.

History

Father Idzi Radziszewski founded the university in 1918. Vladimir Lenin allowed the priest to take the library and equipment of Saint Petersburg Roman Catholic Theological Academy back to Poland in order to launch the university just as Poland regained its independence. The aim of the university was to be a modern place of higher education which would conduct research in the spirit of harmony between science and faith. The university sought to produce a new Catholic intelligentsia which would play a leading role in the Polish community.

The number of students increased from 399 in 1918-1919 to 1440 in 1937-1938. This growth was interrupted by the outbreak of the Second World War and Nazi Germany's occupation of Poland. During the occupation the university was ordered shut down and its buildings were converted into a military hospital. Many professors and students were persecuted. Nevertheless, the University carried on its...
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