Diego Álvarez ( lat, Didacus Alvarez; c. 1555 – 1632) was a Spanish

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

who opposed

Molinism Molinism, named after 16th-century Spanish Jesuit priest and Roman Catholic theologian Luis de Molina, is the thesis that God has middle knowledge. It seeks to reconcile the apparent tension of divine providence and human free will. Prominent c ...

. He was

archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

Trani Trani () is a seaport of Apulia, in southern Italy, on the Adriatic Sea, by railway west-northwest of Bari. It is one of the capital cities of the Province of Barletta-Andria-Trani. History Overview The city of ''Turenum'' appears for the fir ...

from 1607 to his death.

Life

Diego Álvarez was born at

Medina de Rioseco Medina de Rioseco is a municipality located in the province of Valladolid, in the autonomous community of Castile and León and Spain. According to a 2011 census (INE), the municipality has a population of 4,967 inhabitants. The city also has th ...

Old Castile Old Castile ( es, Castilla la Vieja ) is a historic region of Spain, which had different definitions along the centuries. Its extension was formally defined in the 1833 territorial division of Spain as the sum of the following provinces: San ...

, about 1555. He entered the

Dominican Order The Order of Preachers ( la, Ordo Praedicatorum) abbreviated OP, also known as the Dominicans, is a Catholic mendicant order of Pontifical Right for men founded in Toulouse, France, by the Spanish priest, saint and mystic Dominic of Cal ...

in his native city, and taught theology for twenty years in the Spanish cities of

Burgos Burgos () is a city in Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the province of Burgos. Burgos is situated in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, on the confluence of t ...

, Trianos,

Plasencia Plasencia () is a walled market city in the province of Cáceres, Extremadura, Western Spain. , it has a population of 41,047. Situated on the bank of the Jerte River, Plasencia has a historic quarter that is a consequence of the city's stra ...

, and

Valladolid Valladolid () is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and de facto capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the province o ...

, and for ten years (1596-1606) at the Dominican convent of Santa Maria sopra Minerva, in Rome. From 1603 to 1606 he was elected Regent of the '' Collegium Divi Thomae'' of the Dominicans in Rome. Shortly after his arrival in Rome (7 November 1596) he presented to

Pope Clement VIII Pope Clement VIII ( la, Clemens VIII; it, Clemente VIII; 24 February 1536 – 3 March 1605), born Ippolito Aldobrandini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 2 February 1592 to his death in March 1605. Born ...

a memorial requesting him to examine the work ''Concordia liberi Arbitrii'', by

Luis de Molina Luis de Molina (29 September 1535 – 12 October 1600) was a Spanish Jesuit priest and scholastic, a staunch defender of free will in the controversy over human liberty and God's grace. His theology is known as Molinism. Life From 1551 t ...

, S.J., which, upon its publication in 1588, had given rise to bitter controversy, known as

, on the extent of knowledge of God in the

Divine providence In theology, Divine Providence, or simply Providence, is God's intervention in the Universe. The term ''Divine Providence'' (usually capitalized) is also used as a title of God. A distinction is usually made between "general providence", which ...

. Before the Congregation (

Congregatio de Auxiliis The ''Congregatio de Auxiliis'' (Latin for "Congregation on help (by Divine Grace)") was a commission established by Pope Clement VIII to settle a theological controversy regarding divine grace that had arisen between the Dominicans and the Je ...

), appointed by the Pope to settle the dispute, he defended the

Thomistic Thomism is the philosophical and theological school that arose as a legacy of the work and thought of Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274), the Dominican philosopher, theologian, and Doctor of the Church. In philosophy, Aquinas' disputed questions ...

doctrines of grace, predestination, etc., alone for three years, and, thereafter, conjointly with his confrere Tomas de Lemos, to whom he gave the first place, until the suspension of the Congregation (1606). He was appointed on 19 March 1607, by

Pope Paul V Pope Paul V ( la, Paulus V; it, Paolo V) (17 September 1550 – 28 January 1621), born Camillo Borghese, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 16 May 1605 to his death in January 1621. In 1611, he honored ...

, to the Archbishopric of Trani. The

episcopal consecration A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or offic ...

followed on 1 April in the Basilica of Santa Maria sopra Minerva by the hands of

Girolamo Bernerio Girolamo Cardinal Bernerio, O.P. (1540 – 5 August 1611) was an Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. Biography Bernerio was born in Corregio. He served as Bishop of Ascoli Piceno from 1586 until his resignation in 1605. He was ...

. He passed the remainder of his life in

where he died on 10 May 1632. He was buried in that

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

Works

''De auxiliis Diuinae Gratiae'', 1620, left, upright=0.45 Besides a commentary on

Isaiah Isaiah ( or ; he, , ''Yəšaʿyāhū'', "God is Salvation"), also known as Isaias, was the 8th-century BC Israelite prophet after whom the Book of Isaiah is named. Within the text of the Book of Isaiah, Isaiah himself is referred to as "the ...

, and a manual for preachers, he published: ''De auxiliis divinæ gratiæ et humani arbitrii viribus et libertate, ac legitimâ ejus cum efficaciâ eorumdem auxiliorum concordiâ libri XII'' (Rome, 1610; Lyons, 1620; Douai, 1635); ''Responsionum ad objectiones adversus concordiam liberi arbitrii cum divinâ, præscientiâ, providentiâ, et prædestinatione, atque cum efficaciâ prævenientis gratiæ, prout a S. Thomâ et Thomistis defenditur et explicatur, Libri IV'' (Trani, 1622; Lyons, 1622); ''De origine Pelagianæ hæresis et ejus progressu et damnatione per plures summos pontifices et concilia factâ Historia ex annalibus Card. Baronii et aliis probatis auctoribus collecta'' (Trani, 1629); ''Responsionum liber ultimus hoc titulo: Opus præclarum nunquam hâctenus editum, in quo argumentis validissimis concordia liberi arbitrii cum divinâ præscientiâ, prædestinatione, et efficaciâ gratiæ prævenientis ad mentem S. Thomæ et omnium defenditur et explicatur'' (Douai, 1635); ''Operis de auxiliis divinæ gratiæ et humani arbitrii viribus et libertate, ac legitimâ ejus cum efficaciæ eorumdem auxiliorum concordiâ summa, in IV libros distincta'' (Lyons, 1620; Cologne, 1621; Trani, 1625); ''De incarnatione divini verbi disputationes LXXX; in quibus explicantur et defenduntur, quæ in tertiâ parte summæ theologicæ docet S. Thomas a Q. 1 ad 24'' (Lyons, 1614; Rome, 1615; Cologne, 1622); ''Disputationes theologicæ in primam secundæ S. Thomæ, in quibus præcipua omina quæ adversus doctrinam ejusdem et communem Thomistarum a diversis auctoribus impugnantur, juxta legitimum sensum præceptoris angelici explicantur et defenduntur'' (Trani, 1617; Cologne, 1621).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alvarez, Diego 1550s births 1632 deaths Spanish Dominicans Dominican bishops Dominican theologians 16th-century Spanish Roman Catholic theologians Thomists 17th-century Italian Roman Catholic archbishops Archbishops of Trani Date of birth unknown 17th-century Spanish Roman Catholic theologians