New rector of Mexican Catholic university: Catholic education must pass on ‘its treasure’

The seal of the Pontifical University of Mexico. / Credit: EWTN News

ACI Prensa Staff, Sep 10, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).

The Pontifical University of Mexico (UPM by its Spanish acronym) began a new era with the appointment of Father Pedro Antonio Benítez Mestre as interim rector, a position he will hold for two years.

The UPM, which currently has nearly 400 students, is the only Catholic institution of higher education in Mexico dedicated to priestly, religious, and lay formation in disciplines such as theology, philosophy, canon law, and the humanities. It was established in 1982 by decree of the Congregation for Catholic Education as the successor to the Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico, founded in 1551.

In an interview with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, Benítez stated that every Catholic university, and especially a pontifical one with the purpose of forming the clergy as well as serving the laity, must have “a Christian identity,” meaning that its “source of theological and philosophical knowledge is revelation, these truths about Christ, about the Church, about humanity.”

A Catholic university must have “a clear missionary dimension, finding ways to pass on what it considers its treasure: its doctrinal, human, and spiritual heritage.”

He said the institution must also “enter the machinery of political and social discourse,” because a university that “does not seek to influence society would be sort of encapsulating itself in a kind of monastery. You can cultivate theology, law, but you are not seeking to impact society.”

The rector emphasized that one of his goals as head of the UPM is to make the institution “a benchmark for the transmission, creation, and research of Christian culture and evangelical values,” not only in Mexico but also throughout Latin America. 

Benítez said he was invited to assume leadership of the UPM by Cardinal Carlos Aguiar Retes, archbishop primate of Mexico and grand chancellor of the university.

At the time, he was serving as adjunct professor in the department of systematic theology at the University of Navarra in Spain. While the invitation was a surprise, he accepted the assignment as “a wonderful challenge to help consolidate the university’s strengths, initiatives, and potential.”

The priest became rector on Aug. 26 with the appointment approved by the Holy See’s Dicastery for Culture and Education, following the departure of Father Alberto Anguiano García.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.