On the face of it, the closure of Melbourne’s John Paul II Institute does not seem especially earth-shaking news. True, the institution has a high international reputation for the quality of its teaching and its academic research on bioethics and the family. But it has only existed since 2001, and it is not unique, globally speaking – there are 10 or so other campuses around the world also affiliated with the John Paul II Institute in Rome.

Nevertheless, when Archbishop Denis Hart of Melbourne announced last week that the institute will close, it provoked an extraordinary reaction. The website of Australia’s Catholic Weekly, which broke the story, crashed for the first time ever because so many people were following the story. A Facebook campaign, “Save the John Paul II Institute”, quickly acquired 1,200 members. Current and former students came forward to say how much the institute meant to them, and to ask whether there was any way to save it.