After years of consultation, on August 15, 1990, Pope John Paul II published an Apostolic Constitution, Ex corde ecclesiae. Familiar as the document is to many readers, especially in Catholic higher education, in the sixth anniversary year of its appearance it continues to merit careful review. The document is divided into two parts, with the first section describing the identity and mission of a Catholic university and its mission of service while the second proposes seven General Norms for implementation. In early 1991, the National Conference of Catholic Bishops established a committee of seven bishops and eleven consultants, eight of whom were college or university presidents, to oversee the implementation of the Constitution. Later, in August 1994, a Project Director, the Reverend Terrence Toland, S.J., was appointed.