Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas
Encyclopedia
The Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas (original Latin name, according to Art. 1 of its Statutes: Pontificia Academia Sancti Thomae Aquinatis) was established on 15 October 1879 by Pope
Leo XIII. The first Prefect was Cardinal Giuseppe Pecci
(1879–1890) a noted Thomist at the time. The academy was one of several thomist foundations in places such as Bologna
, Freiburg
(Switzerland), Paris
and Lowden. The Academy was then confirmed by Pius X with his apostolic letter of 23 January 1904 and enlarged by Benedict XV on 31 December 1914. John Paul II reformed the Academy on 28 January 1999 with his apostolic letter Inter munera Academiarium, issued shortly after his encyclical
Fides et Ratio
.
The Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas is temporarily headquartered in the Casina Pio IV
in the Vatican City
. Its objectives, as stated in the Academy's Yearbook
(2007, in press), are the following:
The current President of the PAST is Msgr. Lluís Clavell from Opus Dei
, who substituted in June 2009 the Reverend Father Edward Kaczyński, O.P. The current Secretary is Bishop Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo
.
Until 1965 the presidency of the PAST was held by a group of cardinals. Pope Paul VI
appointed the first single cardinal as President of the PAST, Cardinal Michael Brown, O.P. After his death in 1971, the presidency became vacant until the appointment of Cardinal Luigi Ciappi, O.P. in 1979. After his death in 1996, the PAST was reformed. The office of president would no longer be bestowed on a cardinal and its appointment would be for a five-year period. Abelardo Lobato O.P. became president from 1999-2005.
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
Leo XIII. The first Prefect was Cardinal Giuseppe Pecci
Giuseppe Pecci
Giuseppe Pecci S.J. was a Catholic Thomist theologian whose younger brother, Vincenzo, became Pope Leo XIII and appointed him a cardinal...
(1879–1890) a noted Thomist at the time. The academy was one of several thomist foundations in places such as Bologna
Bologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
, Freiburg
Freiburg
Freiburg im Breisgau is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. In the extreme south-west of the country, it straddles the Dreisam river, at the foot of the Schlossberg. Historically, the city has acted as the hub of the Breisgau region on the western edge of the Black Forest in the Upper Rhine Plain...
(Switzerland), Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and Lowden. The Academy was then confirmed by Pius X with his apostolic letter of 23 January 1904 and enlarged by Benedict XV on 31 December 1914. John Paul II reformed the Academy on 28 January 1999 with his apostolic letter Inter munera Academiarium, issued shortly after his encyclical
Encyclical
An encyclical was originally a circular letter sent to all the churches of a particular area in the ancient Catholic Church. At that time, the word could be used for a letter sent out by any bishop...
Fides et Ratio
Fides et Ratio
Fides et Ratio is an encyclical promulgated by Pope John Paul II on 14 September 1998. It deals primarily with the relationship between faith and reason....
.
The Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas is temporarily headquartered in the Casina Pio IV
Casina Pio IV
The Casina Pio IV is a patrician villa in Vatican City which is now home to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences and the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas. The predecessor of the present complex structure was begun in the spring of 1558 by Pope Paul...
in the Vatican City
Vatican City
Vatican City , or Vatican City State, in Italian officially Stato della Città del Vaticano , which translates literally as State of the City of the Vatican, is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. It has an area of...
. Its objectives, as stated in the Academy's Yearbook
Yearbook
A yearbook, also known as an annual, is a book to record, highlight, and commemorate the past year of a school or a book published annually. Virtually all American, Australian and Canadian high schools, most colleges and many elementary and middle schools publish yearbooks...
(2007, in press), are the following:
- Carry out research, explain and disseminate the teaching of St. Thomas AquinasThomas AquinasThomas Aquinas, O.P. , also Thomas of Aquin or Aquino, was an Italian Dominican priest of the Catholic Church, and an immensely influential philosopher and theologian in the tradition of scholasticism, known as Doctor Angelicus, Doctor Communis, or Doctor Universalis...
- Propose St. Thomas Aquinas as a model ChristianChristianA Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
teacher, seeker of truthTruthTruth has a variety of meanings, such as the state of being in accord with fact or reality. It can also mean having fidelity to an original or to a standard or ideal. In a common usage, it also means constancy or sincerity in action or character...
, lover of good and scholar of all learningLearningLearning is acquiring new or modifying existing knowledge, behaviors, skills, values, or preferences and may involve synthesizing different types of information. The ability to learn is possessed by humans, animals and some machines. Progress over time tends to follow learning curves.Human learning... - Be at the service of all the teaching of St. Thomas Aquinas in accord of the Christian tradition and the MagisteriumMagisteriumIn the Catholic Church the Magisterium is the teaching authority of the Church. This authority is understood to be embodied in the episcopacy, which is the aggregation of the current bishops of the Church in union with the Pope, led by the Bishop of Rome , who has authority over the bishops,...
of the ChurchChristian ChurchThe Christian Church is the assembly or association of followers of Jesus Christ. The Greek term ἐκκλησία that in its appearances in the New Testament is usually translated as "church" basically means "assembly"...
, especially as set out in the encyclicals Aeterni PatrisAeterni PatrisEighteen months into his pontificate, in August 1879, Pope Leo XIII, formerly Joachim Pecci, cardinal and bishop of Perugia, published the encyclical Aeterni Patris...
and Fides et RatioFides et RatioFides et Ratio is an encyclical promulgated by Pope John Paul II on 14 September 1998. It deals primarily with the relationship between faith and reason.... - Explain, in as much as this is possible, the mystery of faith and the analogical connections between its internal articles of faithFaithFaith is confidence or trust in a person or thing, or a belief that is not based on proof. In religion, faith is a belief in a transcendent reality, a religious teacher, a set of teachings or a Supreme Being. Generally speaking, it is offered as a means by which the truth of the proposition,...
according to the thinking of St. Thomas Aquinas; honouring, thereby, at the same time, his title, Doctor Communis - Encourage interaction between faith and reason, and foster increasing dialogue between the sciences, philosophyPhilosophyPhilosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
and theologyTheologyTheology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo... - Cooperate with the members of other Academies in a friendly spirit to promote Christian philosophy and theology
- Stimulate international interaction between scholars of St. Thomas Aquinas and his work
- Further the role of Thomistic thought in society
- Promote education in Thomistic studies and the public's understanding of the ideas of St. Thomas Aquinas
- Encourage research into the work and thought of St. Thomas Aquinas.
The current President of the PAST is Msgr. Lluís Clavell from Opus Dei
Opus Dei
Opus Dei, formally known as The Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei , is an organization of the Catholic Church that teaches that everyone is called to holiness and that ordinary life is a path to sanctity. The majority of its membership are lay people, with secular priests under the...
, who substituted in June 2009 the Reverend Father Edward Kaczyński, O.P. The current Secretary is Bishop Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo
Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo
Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on 8 September 1942. He was ordained a priest on 7 December 1968 in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Buenos Aires. At the St. Thomas Aquinas University of Rome he was awarded a Ph.D...
.
Until 1965 the presidency of the PAST was held by a group of cardinals. Pope Paul VI
Pope Paul VI
Paul VI , born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding Pope John XXIII, who had convened the Second Vatican Council, he decided to continue it...
appointed the first single cardinal as President of the PAST, Cardinal Michael Brown, O.P. After his death in 1971, the presidency became vacant until the appointment of Cardinal Luigi Ciappi, O.P. in 1979. After his death in 1996, the PAST was reformed. The office of president would no longer be bestowed on a cardinal and its appointment would be for a five-year period. Abelardo Lobato O.P. became president from 1999-2005.
Current Members (2011)
- Jan Aertsen
- Enrico Berti
- Mauricio Beuchot Puente O.P.
- Inos Biffi
- Serge-Thomas Bonino O.P.
- Stephen L. Brock
- Jean-Louis BruguèsJean-Louis BruguèsJean-Louis Bruguès, OP is a French prelate of the Roman Catholic Church, who currently serves as Secretary of the Congregation for Catholic Education.-Biography:...
O.P. - Rafael Tomás Caldera
- Angelo Campodonico
- Romanus Cessario O.P.
- Lluís Clavell
- Andrea Dalledonne
- Lawrence Dewan O.P.
- Joseph Augustine Di NoiaJoseph Augustine Di NoiaJoseph Augustine Di Noia, O.P., is an American archbishop and theologian; he is a prominent member of the Roman Curia, becoming successively Under-Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the...
O.P. - María Celestina Donadío Maggi de Gandolfi
- Jude Patrick Dougherty
- Ricardo A. Ferrara
- Kevin Flannery S.J.
- Yves Floucat
- Eudaldo Forment
- Umberto Galeazzi
- Luz García Alonso
- Wojciech GiertychWojciech GiertychWojciech Giertych, O.P. is a Polish Roman Catholic priest in the Dominican Order. He currently serves in the Prefecture of the Pontifical Household as theologian to the Pope.-Biography:...
O.P. - F. Russell Hittinger
- Reinhard Huetter
- Ruedi Imbach
- José A.Izquierdo Labeaga
- Edward Kaczyński O.P.
- Antonio Livi
- Alejandro Llano
- Mauro Mantovani S.D.B.
- Enrique Martínez
- Fernando Moreno
- Charles MorerodCharles MorerodCharles Morerod, O.P. , is a Swiss Dominican prelate. On 3 November 2011 he was appointed as bishop of Lausanne, Genève et Fribourg by Pope Benedict XVI. He had previously served as rector of the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas , professor of dogmatic theology...
O.P.
- John O'CallaghanJohn O'CallaghanJohn O'Callaghan may refer to:*John O'Callaghan , Irish hurler*John O'Callaghan , Irish DJ*John O'Callaghan , secretary of the United Irish League*John O'Callaghan, lead singer of The Maine*Liam McCarthy and John D...
- Mario Pangallo
- Günther Pöltner
- Pasquale Porro
- Vittorio Possenti
- Pedro RodríguezPedro RodriguezPedro Rodriguez or Pedro Rodríguez may refer to:*Pedro Rodríguez , Puerto Rican Korean War hero who won two Silver Star Medals.*Pedro Rodríguez , Mexican racing driver...
- Mario Enrique Sacchi
- Marcelo Sánchez SorondoMarcelo Sánchez SorondoMarcelo Sánchez Sorondo was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on 8 September 1942. He was ordained a priest on 7 December 1968 in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Buenos Aires. At the St. Thomas Aquinas University of Rome he was awarded a Ph.D...
- Horst Seidl
- Carlos Steel
- Giuseppe Tanzella Nitti
- Luca Tuninetti
- Georg Wieland
- Robert Wielockx
- John Wippel