ECCLESIASTICAL INSTITUTIONS must focus more on spiritual formation rather than mere academic instruction, said Manila Archbishop Cardinal Jose Advincula during the Mass for the Feast of St. Catherine of Alexandria, secondary patroness of the University, at the Central Seminary Chapel on Tuesday, Nov. 25.
In his homily, Advincula warned Catholic faculties and institutions against prioritizing technical knowledge over spiritual depth in their academic programs.
“Renew your commitment to a formation that transcends mere academics,” the cardinal said. “True education must treat spiritual growth not as an add-on to intellectual formation, but as its very foundation.”
The Mass coincided with the opening of the Agency of the Evaluation and Promotion of Quality in Ecclesiastical Universities and Faculties (Avepro) Quality Seminar for Asia Pacific.
Avepro is an institution connected to the Pope to promote and develop a culture of quality within academic institutions under the supervision of the Holy See.
Advincula said institutions renowned for scholarship risked becoming hollow if their foundations were “merely human.”
“These institutions can look majestic and imposing, producing popes and cardinals, prelates and priests, theologians, philosophers, and chemists. Yet if their foundation is merely human, they risk becoming brittle, shallow, or easily shaken,” he said.
Teachers, he said, should be “not only scholars or experts, but witnesses,” forming students not merely through lectures and papers but through lives marked by discernment, service, and prayer.
The Manila prelate called on scholastic institutions to equip students with critical discernment and pastoral sensitivity, forming clergy and laity who can navigate conflict and suffering without losing sight of God.
Highlighting the Salamanca process, the Dominican Order’s teaching framework promoting social justice and human rights, Advincula emphasized the integral relationship between study and service, which, he said, is “a characteristic of a true Christian education.”
He urged ecclesiastical faculties to integrate academic excellence with mission, justice, and service by building curricula that encompass theology, philosophy, and canon law and ensuring intellectual work is put into action for the poor and the marginalized.
