Catholic studies is an interdisciplinary academic field devoted to the study of the teaching, life and culture of the Catholic Church.[1]
A number of Catholic universities started offering programs in Catholic studies as a response to Pope John Paul II's 1990 encyclical Ex corde Ecclesiae. Such universities include Ave Maria University,[2] DePaul University,[3] Georgetown University,[4] Loyola University Chicago,[5] and the University of Mary.[6] The University of St. Thomas has a specialist Center for Catholic Studies, which was founded in 1992.