Colm Fitzpatrick
The new IFCU president, Dr Isabel Capeloa Gill (left), former President of Ireland, Mary Robinson, and President of St Patrick's College, Maynooth, Fr Michael Mullaney. Photo: Donal Norton The International Federation of Catholic Universities’ (IFCU), an organisation of over 200 Catholic universities throughout the world, has elected its first female president.
At the conclusion of the 26th General Assembly Meeting in St Patrick’s College, Maynooth, last week Dr Isabel Capeloa Gil was elected as the organisation’s new president.
She is the Rector of the Catholic University of Portugal, a university with 12,000 students across 18 faculties, schools and institutes.
The host of this year’s assembly, Rev. Professor Michael Mullaney, President of St Patrick’s College, welcomed this historic election and wished Dr Gil every success in her term of office.
In her acceptance address Dr Gil said she will “work to make the power of the few the strength of the many”.
This year’s General Assembly took place from 23 to 27 July on the theme ‘Catholic Universities, Working in Solidarity as Responsible Agents from the Local to the Global’. The Assembly discussed how to bring Pope Francis’ Encyclical Letter of 2015, Laudato Si’ on care for our common home, into the heart of this global network of third-level institutions by addressing issues related to the social responsibility of Catholic universities.