The Cardinal Newman Society (CNS) is celebrating the 10th anniversary of the publication of Pope John Paul II’s encyclical Fides et Ratio, issued 10 years ago Sunday, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.

“The Cardinal Newman Society rejoices with the Church in celebrating the great encyclical Fides et Ratio, in particular the Holy Father’s caution against allowing the ‘legitimate distinction’ between philosophy and theology to become a radical ‘separation’ that excludes God from learning,” said CNS President Patrick J. Reilly. “Through the lens of Fides et Ratio, it becomes apparent that Catholic higher education in the United States is at a crossroads: one path affirms the unity of faith and reason, the other denies it.”

In Fides et Ratio, Pope John Paul II drew upon his expertise in philosophy to counter nihilism, relativism and other radical notions that are especially prominent in American and European universities.

“Faith and reason are like two wings,” begins the encyclical, “on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth—in a word, to know himself—so that, by knowing and loving God, men and women may also come to the fullness of truth about themselves.”

The Holy Father cites the example of the great early Catholic universities and the writings of Saint Albert the Great and Saint Thomas Aquinas, who recognized the “organic link” between philosophy and theology, even while recognizing the disciplines’ distinct methods of argument and study. Increasingly, however, “the exaggerated rationalism of certain thinkers” has brought about distrust of both religion and rationality.

Last April, Pope Benedict XVI echoed themes from Fides et Ratio during his address to Catholic educators at The Catholic University of America, urging the renewal of Catholic identity in Catholic education: “God's desire to make himself known, and the innate desire of all human beings to know the truth, provide the context for human inquiry into the meaning of life. This unique encounter is sustained within our Christian community: the one who seeks the truth becomes the one who lives by faith.”

After urging educators to commit their entire intellect, will, mind and heart to God, the Holy Father taught: “From this perspective one can recognize that the contemporary ‘crisis of truth’ is rooted in a ‘crisis of faith’.”

The unity of faith and reason underlies Pope Benedict’s warning “that any appeal to the principle of academic freedom in order to justify positions that contradict the faith and the teaching of the Church would obstruct or even betray the university's identity and mission.”

Colleges and universities included in The Newman Guide to Choosing a Catholic College have taken to heart Pope Benedict’s call for an academic freedom informed by truth. Since the publication of Fides et Ratio in 1998, six new Catholic colleges have been founded, each instilling the unity of faith and reason in their academic vision. Many other Catholic colleges are successfully fighting the tide of intellectual discontinuity and secularism.