TO PROVIDE A COMPREHENSIVE UNDERSTANDING OF PERSON, MARRIAGE AND FAMILY FAITHFUL TO THE CATHOLIC TRADITION IN LIGHT OF THE TEACHINGS OF THE SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL AND POPE JOHN PAUL II, BY MEANS OF A MULTIDISCIPLINARY EDUCATION CENTERED IN THEOLOGY AND INTEGRATED IN LIGHT OF JOHN PAUL II'S NOTION OF MAN AND WOMAN AS AN EMBODIED, SEXUALLY DIFFERENTIATED COMMUNION OF PERSONS CREATED IN THE IMAGE OF GOD AND DESTINED FOR A STATE OF LIFE; TO DEVELOP A CRITICAL UNDERSTANDING OF ISSUES ON MARRIAGE AND FAMILY, BIOTECHNOLOGY AND ETHICS IN LIGHT OF WESTERN/MODERN ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING THE HUMAN PERSON, AS THESE BEAR ON THE NATURE AND DIGNITY OF HUMAN LIFE; TO OFFER ACCREDITED PONTIFICAL DEGREE PROGRAMS, AS WELL AS ACCREDITED GRADUATE DEGREE PROGRAMS (MASTER'S, LICENSE, AND DOCTORAL-LEVEL EDUCATION); THE OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE OF THE SAINT JOHN PAUL II NATIONAL SHRINE, A WORLD-CLASS SHRINE DEPICTING THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF THE SAINT JOHN PAUL II AND ON CATHOLIC HERITAGE OF NORTH AMERICA.