Abstract

The active interest of Pope Leo XIII in the conception and the founding of the new Catholic University of America in 1887 is evidenced by the fact that, in his study in the Apostolic Palace, he kept three manuscripts directly related to this cultural institution. The three sources provide the pretext to retrace the lines of educational policy pursued by the pontiff, the Papal Curia, and the US episcopate. The paper also looks at the major challenges facing the University whilst in its infancy, as well as the profiles of personalities involved (from Cardinal James Gibbons to Count Joseph Florimond Loubat) who contributed to the lively academic debate during the latter years of the nineteenth century.