The Universidad Católica San Antonio ("Saint Anthony Catholic University"), also known as the Universidad Católica de Murcia (UCAM), is a private university located in

Murcia Murcia ( , , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the Capital (political), capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the Ranked lists of Spanish municipalities#By population, seventh largest city i ...

in south-eastern

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. It is owned by the San Antonio University Foundation which, as the university, is named after its patron saint, San Antonio de Padua.

History

In 1978

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

promulgated the Apostolic Constitution '' Ex Corde Ecclesiae'', which made allowance, in Article 3.3, for the establishment of Catholic universities by laypersons. By the wording of this document, UCAM the plan of founder and president José Luis Mendoza, was the first such university to be established under the new conditions presented in the Article. Mendoza, a strongly

homophobic Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who identify or are perceived as being lesbian, Gay men, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred, or ant ...

member of the

Neocatechumenal Way The Neocatechumenal Way, also known as the Neocatechumenate, or NCW is a program in the Catholic Church. It is inspired by the catechumenate of the early Catholic Church where converts from paganism were prepared for baptism through a process ...

, the

Pontifical Council for the Family The Pontifical Council for the Family was a pontifical council of the Curia of the Roman Catholic Church from 1981 to 2016. It was established by Pope John Paul II on 9 May 1981 with his motu proprio ''Familia a Deo Instituta'', replacing the Com ...

and father of 14 children with ties to the

far-right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...

party Vox, served as president of the university. At its establishment in 1996, UCAM attended approximately 600 students. its students were 16,000. UCAM's stance toward the secular world is informed by this notion, as can be seen in the Letter from the President introducing English-speaking foreign students to UCAM. According to Mendoza, the university has:

"''a vocation both to teach and evangelise in the academic, scientific and cultural world and provide an instrument in Faith to solve the many questions and problems of contemporary society and in this way contribute to social, cultural and human development and progress''".

Nowadays, the university has a wide range of national and international partnerships with institutions such as

EU Business School EU Business School is a private business school with campuses in Geneva (Switzerland), Barcelona (Spain), and Munich (Germany). It is a member of OMNES Education , OMNES Education Group since 2022. History EU Business School was established ...

Sevilla FC Sevilla Fútbol Club () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, that competes in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. The club was formed on 25 January ...

, CDEI Business School, CESAE Business & Tourism School, etc.

Campus

The university has many headquarters and centers, main campuses being located in

and Cartagena. It also offers training in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

and remotely, with a multitude of examination venues nationwide. With more than 20,000 students and around 1,000 teachers, UCAM's present objective is to promote quality university education with future representation on all continents. It is built on an approximate area of 25,000 square meters (14,500 built) and will soon have an annexation of another 200,000 for gardens,

parking Parking is the act of stopping and disengaging a vehicle and usually leaving it unoccupied. Parking on one or both sides of a road is often permitted, though sometimes with restrictions. Some buildings have parking facilities for use of the bu ...

, sports facilities and university residence. It is located 4 km from the urban center of the city of Murcia, in the Los Jerónimos Monastery (18th century), which, together with its baroque church, is declared a National Historic-Artistic Monument and forms the so-called Los Jerónimos Campus, headquarters of UCAM. The campus consists of large and bright classrooms, Library, Assembly Hall, Meeting and Work Rooms, Laboratories, Computer, Multimedia and Language Classrooms and Cafeteria-Dining Room. Other UCAM headquarters and schools, complementary to the Los Jerónimos Campus are:
Cartagena Campus
* VET Institute * COCO School of Design * UCAM Online * UCAM Spanish Sports University * John Paul II Institute

Studies offered

Ranking

In 2017 UCAM was ranked first in the European Union ranking

U-Multirank College and university rankings order higher education institutions based on various criteria, with factors differing depending on the specific ranking system. These rankings can be conducted at the national or international level, assessing inst ...

, as the best university in Europe to study

Computer Engineering Computer engineering (CE, CoE, or CpE) is a branch of engineering specialized in developing computer hardware and software. It integrates several fields of electrical engineering, electronics engineering and computer science. Computer engi ...

and

Psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

, standing out among the 850 universities evaluated, and also coming in at 16th place among Spanish universities – first in the

Region of Murcia The Region of Murcia (, ; ; ) is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain located in the southeastern part of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast. The region is in area and had a popul ...

. The Bachelor's Degree in Civil Engineering was ranked sixth in Europe. In 2019, the

Times Higher Education ''Times Higher Education'' (''THE''), formerly ''The Times Higher Education Supplement'' (''The THES''), is a British magazine reporting specifically on news and issues related to higher education. Ownership TPG Capital acquired TSL Education ...

ranking placed the university as the 37th in Spain in terms of teaching quality and positioned it 151-200 in the Europe Teaching Rankings 2019. Furthermore, UCAM was awarded an overall score of 4 stars in the QS Stars Rating and obtained the highest rating (5 stars) in the categories of teaching, internationalisation, social responsibility and inclusivity. In 2023, the prestigious company specialised in the analysis of higher education institutions around the world,

Quacquarelli Symonds Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) is a higher education analyst and a for-profit services provider headquartered in London with offices in Europe, Asia, and the Americas. History The company was founded by Nunzio Quacquarelli in 1990 to provide informati ...

(QS), gave UCAM a special distinction for its teaching model, the inclusivity of its university campuses, its internationalisation, online training and commitment to its students, as well as for its high score in employability. There are only 7 Spanish higher education institutions with thi
QS Stars Rating

Research

UCAM promotes theological and philosophical research, and thus areas such as anthropology, social doctrine, ethics, bioethics and humanities play a leading role in all degree programmes. International conferences are organised every year. In some of these, illustrious personalities from the religious, scientific and political world have taken part. Examples include the then Cardinal Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith,

Joseph Ratzinger Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as po ...

(Pope Benedict XVI) or the former head of the Spanish government

José María Aznar José María Alfredo Aznar López (; born 25 February 1953) is a Spanish politician who was the prime minister of Spain from 1996 to 2004. He led the People's Party (Spain), People's Party (PP), the dominant centre-right political party in Spai ...

;

Kiko Argüello Francisco José Gómez de Argüello y Wirtz (born January 9, 1939) is a Spanish artist and, together with Carmen Hernández and Father Mario Pezzi, an initiator of the Neocatechumenal Way. Early life Argüello was born in León, he studied f ...

, founder of the

;

Javier Echevarría Rodríguez Javier Echevarría Rodríguez (14 June 1932 – 12 December 2016) was a Spanish Catholic bishop who served as the head of Opus Dei from 1994 until his death. He held doctorates in both civil and canon law. Within the Roman Curia, the governing ...

, prelate of

Opus Dei is an institution of the Catholic Church that was founded in Spain in 1928 by Josemaría Escrivá. Its stated mission is to help its lay and clerical members seek holiness in their everyday occupations and societies. Opus Dei is officially r ...

; the journalist José María García and the orthopaedic surgeon Pedro Guillén. Other research is focused on the field of nutrition and health, in collaboration with other institutions. There are currently 17 official doctoral programmes and different lines of research. Among the research programmes, the international doctorate in collaboration with the FOM - Fachhochschule fuer Oekonomie und Management of Germany is worth mentioning.

Sports

University sport UCAM has several Olympic medallists such as

Mireia Belmonte ] Mireia Belmonte García (born 10 November 1990) is a Spanish Olympic, world, and European champion Swimming (sport), swimmer. She is the former world record holder in the short course 200 metre butterfly, 400 metre individual medley, 40 ...

, Saúl Craviotto, Saul Craviotto,

Carolina Marín Carolina María Marín Martín (born 15 June 1993) is a Spanish badminton player. She is an Badminton at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Women's singles, Olympic Champion, three-time BWF World Championships, World Champion, and eight-time Europea ...

Ruth Beitia Ruth Beitia Vila (; born 1 April 1979) is a retired high jumper who was the 2016 Olympic champion in the women's high jump. She was also a politician in the Partido Popular and a member of the Parliament of Cantabria. Biography Beitia first ...

Lidia Valentín Lidia may refer to: * Lidia (given name) * ''Lidia'' (spider), a spider genus * Hurricane Lidia, multiple storms * '' Comoedia Lydiae'', a medieval Latin elegiac comedy from the late twelfth century * Spanish Fighting Bull The Spanish Fig ...

Joel González Joel González may refer to: * Joel González (taekwondo) (born 1989), Spanish taekwondo practitioner * Joel González (futsal player) (born 1994), Argentine-Chilean futsal player * Joel González Díaz (born 1965), Mexican politician {{hnd ...

. In fact, 11 of the 17 medals won by Spain at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro belong to athletes with UCAM scholarships. In university competitions, that is, those in which only teams made up of students enrolled in official university degrees by ANECA compete, UCAM has teams in practically all disciplines11 and has been the leader in recent editions of sporting disciplines such as the Spanish University Male Basketball Championship and the Nautical Canoeing Championship. Federated sport UCAM sponsors 16 federated teams.12 These teams include the Club Baloncesto UCAM Murcia (Basketball), the UCAM Murcia Club de Fútbol (Football) and UCAM Voley Murcia (Volleyball). Esports There is a section on esports. Outstanding achievements include a

League of Legends ''League of Legends'' (''LoL'', commonly referred to as ''League'', is a multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Riot Games. Inspired by ''Defense of the Ancients'', a Mod (video games), custom map for ''Warcraf ...

championship in 2021.

Image

The symbols of the Universidad Católica San Antonio are described in Article 9 of its statutes: * ‘The

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

of the University is a double oval inside which the inscription ‘Universidad Católica San Antonio’ above, and the inscription ‘A.D. MCMXCVI’, below –which is the year of its foundation– can be found. Inside the double oval, at the top, we can find the motto of the University, ‘In Libertatem Vocati’, by

St Paul the Apostle Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Apostles in the New Testament, Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the Ministry of Jesus, teachings of Jesus in the Christianity in the 1st century, first ...

, and the kneeling image of

St Anthony of Padua Anthony of Padua, OFM, (; ; ) or Anthony of Lisbon (; ; ; born Fernando Martins de Bulhões; 15 August 1195 – 13 June 1231) was a Portuguese Catholic priest and member of the Order of Friars Minor. Anthony was born and raised by a wealthy ...

with the

Child Jesus The Christ Child—also known as Baby Jesus, Infant Jesus, Child Jesus, Divine Child, Divine Infant and the Holy Child—refers to Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ during his early years. The term refers to a period of life of Jesus, Jesus' l ...

in his arms in the centre.’ * ‘The

flag A flag is a piece of textile, fabric (most often rectangular) with distinctive colours and design. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design employed, and fla ...

of the University is sea

green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a com ...

, sign of the theological virtue of hope, with the coat of arms of the University in it.’

Iradio UCAM

Iradio UCAM
is the radio station of the Universidad Católica San Antonio de Murcia, a project promoted by the Faculty of Communication since the 2009/10 academic year.

Evangelisation and volunteering

UCAM hosts the

John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

International Institute for Charity and Volunteering sponsored by the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, which organises a university work campus in Pachacútec, a town in the

Ventanilla District Ventanilla is a district of the Constitutional Province of Callao in Peru, and one of the seven districts that comprise the port city of Callao. Covering more than half of the province's territory, it is Callao's largest district. The current ma ...

(

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Catolica San Antonio de Murcia, Universidad Catholic universities and colleges in Spain Education in the Region of Murcia Universities and colleges established in 1983 1983 establishments in Spain Universities and colleges in Spain