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Vatican tells university in Peru to change name

Published:Sunday | July 22, 2012 | 12:00 AM

VATICAN CITY (AP):The Vatican has stripped a university in Peru of the right to use "pontifical" or "Catholic" in its name, capping a decades-long struggle.

The Vatican announced the unusual move yesterday, saying that the university had drifted from its Catholic origins by amending its statutes in a way that injured the Church.

The Vatican said emissaries have sought in recent months to persuade the university to conform with a papal decree on the governance of Catholic universities, without result.

A Peruvian high court also waded into the dispute, acknowledging in 2010 the Archdiocese of Lima's right to a seat on the university's board. Administrators did not abide.

The Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, founded in 1917, is one of Peru's most important.