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Pastoral care in the universities is a specific area of activity involving the exercise of the Church's mission in relation to the university environment, i.e. in relation to teachers and other university staff and in relation to students. Through this area of its activity the Church is connected in a special way with one of the fundamental sources of science and culture. Because of the key role of the universities, the mission of the Church there is particularly challenging and important. Therefore, it is essential to identify the basic terms of reference of pastoral care in the universities, and to identify what are currently the main challenges, as well as possibilities of improvement. This is precisely what the article sets out to do: through theological and pastoral discernment it identifies the essential elements of university pastoral care, as well as perspectives for its development in current church practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]