RUŽOMBEROK (September 16, 2008) – A Solemn Mass in the Church of the Holy Family in Ružomberok – Rybárpole connected with the Inauguration of the new Rector of the Catholic University Prof. Tadeusz Zasępa  openedthe  academic year 2008/09 at the Catholic University (CU) in Ružomberok on Tuesday, the 16th of September. „The rector is a head at the university. All you are the limbs, build the community and seriously strive after it,“ the main celebrant of the mass, Great Chancellor of CU and Archibishop of Košice Mons. Alojz Tkáč said in the sermon. He asked all the employees, staff, and students of university to create a uniform community.

Several significant guests were present at the Inauguration ceremony – Slovak bishops, representatives of self-government, academic officials of universities from Slovakia and abroad. The minister of Education of SR Ján Mikolaj had the speech to the assembly of the academia who remarked as important to take measure by scientific boards of Slovak universities, if candidates for habilitation and inauguration procedure have fullfiled all conditions and not to minimize demands for these procedures. „Even for this reason I will deal closely with each proposition of nomination of professor and docent and I will motivate universities to tighten the criteria.“ He pointed in the case of CU he is not affraid that after the complex acreditation it would not be capable to grant habilitation and nominate new professors.

„I will strive for support of such a scientific activity of university teachers of CU which is expected and highly valuated by the agency ARRA, by the rules of the complex acreditation and which was recommended also by the evaluators in frame of the foreign evaluation,“ the new Rector of CU Tadeusz Zasępa said. He wants to reward the best teachers and scientific staff. Already first appraisements will be given at the meeting of the new Rector with the educationists and students of the faculties of CU in next days. As one of the university priorities Rector apprehends also its mission to help the activity of the Catholic Church in Slovakia in the preparation of the priests, teachers, media workers, and another specialists. „My endeavour is to do my best in cooperation with bishops to stay the CU in the people´s minds as useful and qualitative institution of the Catholic Church in Slovakia,“ told the Rector of CU. As important he reckons to form such conditions for students and teacher not only to study and teach in Ružomberok, but to be also their home. In next four years during his administration Prof. Tadeusz Zasępa sees the field for a new approach also in the communication with the individual faculties of CU. „I want to solve problems in the cooperation with all the members of the university – The Senate, Faculties, Academia. The deans of the faculties become my priority partners and the door to ther Rector stays for them always open, because I want to listen to the opinions on direction of the university especially from the people who form it.

On the occasion of the Inauguration, the new Rector of CU dedicated for library of CU a valuable impress of the book Modern Art – Revolution and Painting for 6.640,- Euro. The book was symbolically passed by Rector of CU together with the votives during the

Inauguration Mass. It was carried to the altar by our representatives of four faculties of CU. The hand-made book was published in the load of 170 pieces in the Italian publishing house ARTmedia – Art Publishing in 2001 year. CU owns the first numbered printed copy. The publication has its book wrapper from the camel skin which surveys 265 reproductions of the masterpieces of the eminent painters of the 19th and 20th centuries on 543 pages. The parameters of the book are 70x50 cm and its weight is 40 kg. The valuable book which was donored by Rector for the library, has to be „a corner-stone“ of the new academic library and his thanks for a service for the university.

CU was established in 2000 and at the beginning had two faculties – pedagogical and philosophical. Two years later it became a public higher education institution. The preceders of CU were a Pedagogical Institute of St. Andrew in Ružomberok of the University of Trnava, later the Catechetical-Pedagogical Faculty of the University of Žilina. There are studying 10 500 students, 6 000 internal and the rest as external form of studies at four faculties – of Education, of Arts and Letters, of Theology and of Health Care of CU. 1 200 new students began the academic year 2008/09.