Beginnings

Theological education has been present at Heiligenkreuz Abbey since the Middle Ages. Since 1802, a state-accredited and Church-recognized institution of higher education has operated, originally organized as a seminary to train Cistercian priests from the Zwettl, Heiligenkreuz, Neukloster, and Lilienfeld abbeys, all located in Lower Austria.

For much of the 19th century, the college remained small, with enrollment never more than 20. In the late 19th century, thanks to both political as well as economic changes, the college grew in prestige and influence. Instead of having to teach from state-approved curriculum, the Cistercian professors enjoyed more intellectual independence. In addition, the professors would now receive degrees from universities in Vienna, Austria, Tübingen, Germany, and Rome. Despite these changes, enrollment remained low.

20th-century growth

University faculty in 1930

After Vatican II, enrollment grew rapidly after the college, then known by its Latin name, Institutum Theologicum, came to the attention of the Bishop of Regensburg, Rudolf Graber. He wanted his seminarians to experience life in a religious community before coming diocesan priests, so he sent them to Heiligenkreuz. Soon, other bishops and leaders of other religious orders began sending their own seminarians to be educated there. By 1976, as the college was offering graduate degrees and opening enrollment to lay students, it was granted university status by the Austrian government.

Recent history

University faculty and students meeting with Pope John Paul II in 2002

In May 2002, professors and students made a trip to Rome, where they were received in a papal audience by Pope John Paul II.

In 2007, Pope Benedict XVI visited the university. On 28 January, the feast day of St. Thomas Aquinas, Benedict raised the college to the rank of pontifical university. He praised the university for its combination of theology and spirituality and described it as a "prominent place of study".

Studium Generale

Studium Generale is a curriculum in which the Pope Benedict XVI University partners with the International Theological Institute in Trumau. The German/English-language curriculum, which has been offered since 2015, is a one-year course that offers an overview of philosophy, theology, ethics, economics, law, history, spirituality, and art, all centered around the Catholic intellectual tradition. Classes are split between the two institutions, with two-thirds of classes being held in Trumai and the other third in Heiligenkreuz. Students reside at the International Theological Institute campus.^[6]

Student body

In the 2015–2016 academic year, the university had 295 students. Cistercian students numbered 43, students from other religious orders numbered 40, there were 75 diocesan seminarians, and the rest were lay men and women.

Residential life

Entrance to the main building (2022)

Seminarians and students from religious orders reside in Heiligenkreuz Abbey. Other seminarians live at the Leopoldinum Seminary, also located at the monastery. The only traditional dormitory is the Pope John Paul II Student House, home to both lay and religious male students. St. Joseph of Carmel Other students, especially non-clergy students, find off-campus housing in the town of Heiligenkreuz.^[7]

Alumni

• Christian Feurstein, OCist (1983), Austrian monk and abbot of Rein Abbey
• Leopold Janauschek, OCist, Austrian monk, academic, and historian
• Jörg Lanz von Liebenfels, Austrian former monk, political and racial theorist, and occultist
• Alberich Rabensteiner, OCist, Austrian monk and prior who was murdered by Russian soldiers during World War II

Faculty

• Immo Eberl
• Peter Egger
• Augustinus Fenz, OCist
• Rüdiger Feulner
• Leopold Janauschek, OCist, Austrian monk, academic, and historian
• Matthäus Kurz
• Wilhelm Anton Neumann
• Gregor Pöck
• Nivard Schlögl
• Andreas Schnider
• Walter Schücker, OCist
• Alois Wiesinger

Chancellors