The Catholic University Saint Anthony (in Spanish, la Universidad Católica San Antonio, known as Universidad Católica de Murcia, or UCAM) is a private university located in Murcia, southeastern Spain. Founded in 1996 by José Luis Mendoza Pérez, a lay Catholic, with the permission Bishop Javier Azagra Labiano of the Diocese of Cartagena, UCAM offers undergraduate and graduate programs in a variety of fields, as well as summer courses open to international students. The university is characterized by a firm commitment to Catholic orthodoxy and the moral and social doctrines of the Church. In 1990 Pope John Paul II promulgated the Apostolic Constitution Ex Corde Ecclesiae, which made allowance, in Article 3.3, for the establishment of Catholic universities by laypersons. Prior to Ex Corde Ecclesiae, only clergy and religious, along with affiliated institutions such as regional episcopal conferences and religious societies, were authorized under canon law to found institutes of higher learning under the patronage of the Roman Catholic Church. The document reflects the directives of the Second Vatican Council, which called for increased lay participation in the Church's liturgical and administrative life. UCAM, the brainchild of founder José Luis Mendoza Garcia, was the first such university to be established under the new conditions presented in Article 3.3. A member of the Pontifical Council for the Family and father of 14 children, Mendoza currently serves as president of the university. At its establishment in 1996, UCAM had a population of approximately 600 students. Today its population has expanded to over 6,000. The university also has partnerships with dozens of universities around the world, Catholic and nonreligious alike.
