Ávila, the city of St. Teresa and John of the Cross, will be the venue of the world’s first ever university of mysticism. The new centre, scheduled to open in 2005, will confer degrees and doctorates in mysticism. “At the present time talks are being held with the competent authorities for the authorization of the university, the licence for its building work and the procedures for the recognition of its academic degrees”, explains Discalced Carmelite Father Francisco Javier Sancho Fermín, director of the Centro Internacional Teresiano-Sanjuanista in Ávila. The centre will promote study and research on the thought of the two great Castilian mystics, but will also be a point of reference for the study of mysticism in other religions. “The ground plan of the new university will be star-shaped”, says the director of the centre. It will be built next to the convent of the Incarnation, one of the Teresian monasteries of Ávila. A thousand students are expect to enroll in the university each year. Lectures will be in Spanish and English, with professors from all over the world and of various religious traditions. “The continuous expressions of interest that arrive from all over the world and not only from Catholics have convinced us of the need to offer academic degrees on this subject”, explains Sancho Fermín. And he adds: “The number of people asking for courses of mysticism in the Castilian city is growing, and so too is the interest among Lutherans and Presbyterians, especially in the USA”. For the time being the Centro Internacional Teresiano-Sanjuanista Centre (www.citesavila.org) is organizing a post-graduate programme on St. Theresa of the Child Jesus and St. John of the Cross. This year 60 have enrolled in the course, of whom 17 laypeople. In the summer it organizes, with the Catholic University of Ávila, a university course on literature and mysticism. The Centro Internacional de Estudios Misticos is also located in Avila; in collaboration with other institutions, it annually holds a conference on mysticism; the last was devoted to Hinduism.
