A pontifical university is a type of Catholic university established by and directly under the authority of the Holy See. All ecclesiastical universities are pontifical universities, but only some catholic universities are pontifical universities.
Pontifical universities are academic institutes "established or approved directly by the Holy See, composed of three main ecclesiastical faculties (Theology, Philosophy and Canon Law) and at least one other faculty. These academic institutes deal specifically with the Christian revelation and related disciplines, and the Church’s mission of spreading the Gospel, as proclaimed in the Apostolic Constitution Sapientia christiana."
Pontifical universities follow a european system of degrees in the sacred faculties, granting the baccalaureate, the licentiate, and the doctorate.
These ecclesiastical degrees are prerequisites to certain offices in the Roman Catholic Church, especially considering that bishop candidates are selected mainly from priests who are doctors of sacred theology (S.T.D.) or canon law (J.C.D.) and that ecclesiastical judges and attorneys must at least be licentiates of canon law (J.C.L.).
Read more about Pontifical University: Former Pontifical Universities
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“I am not willing to be drawn further into the toils. I cannot accede to the acceptance of gifts upon terms which take the educational policy of the university out of the hands of the Trustees and Faculty and permit it to be determined by those who give money.”
—Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924)