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The Pontifical Academy of Saint Thomas Aquinas (PAST; la, Pontificia Academia Sancti Thomae Aquinati) is a
pontifical academy established on 15 October 1879 by
Pope Leo XIII. The academy is one of the pontifical academies housed along with the academies of science at
Casina Pio IV in
Vatican City
Vatican City (), officially the Vatican City State ( it, Stato della Città del Vaticano; la, Status Civitatis Vaticanae),—'
* german: Vatikanstadt, cf. '—' (in Austria: ')
* pl, Miasto Watykańskie, cf. '—'
* pt, Cidade do Vati ...
, Rome.
History
The Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas was established on 15 October 1879 by Leo XIII, who approved its statutes with a brief of 9 May 1895. Leo appointed his brother,
Giuseppe Pecci
Giuseppe Pecci (13 December 1807 – 8 February 1890) was a Jesuit Thomist theologian whose younger brother, Vincenzo, became Pope Leo XIII and appointed him a cardinal. The Neo-Thomist revival, which Leo XIII and his brother Giuseppe, Car ...
(1879–1890) a prominent
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 ...
scholar, as first Prefect. The academy was founded with thirty members: ten from Rome, ten from the rest of Italy, and ten from other countries. Through Pecci, PAST helped establish
Thomist
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 a ...
programs at
Bologna
Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...
,
Fribourg
, neighboring_municipalities= Düdingen, Givisiez, Granges-Paccot, Marly, Pierrafortscha, Sankt Ursen, Tafers, Villars-sur-Glâne
, twintowns = Rueil-Malmaison (France)
, website = www.ville-fribourg.ch
, Location of , Location of ()
() o ...
(Switzerland),
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, and Lowden.
Upon the death of Pecci in 1890,
Tommaso Maria Zigliara
Tommaso Maria Zigliara, OP (29 October 1833 – 11 May 1893) was a Corsican priest of the Catholic Church, a member of the Dominicans, a theologian, philosopher and a cardinal.
Early life
Zigliara was born on 29 October 1833 at Bonifacio a se ...
, professor of theology at the ''Collegium Divi Thomae'' (the future
Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, ''Angelicum'') became Prefect.
The academy was confirmed by
Pope Pius X with his
apostolic letter
Ecclesiastical letters are publications or announcements of the organs of Roman Catholic ecclesiastical authority, e.g. the synods, but more particularly of pope and bishops, addressed to the faithful in the form of letters.
Letters of the pop ...
of 23 January 1904. Under Pius X,
neo-Thomism
Neo-scholasticism (also known as neo-scholastic Thomism Accessed 27 March 2013 or neo-Thomism because of the great influence of the writings of Thomas Aquinas on the movement) is a revival and development of medieval scholasticism in Catholic the ...
became the blueprint for theology.
Until 1965 the presidency of the PAST was held by a group of cardinals.
Pope Paul VI appointed the first single cardinal as president, Cardinal
Michael Browne. After his death in 1971, the presidency remained vacant until the appointment of Cardinal
Mario Luigi Ciappi
Mario Luigi Ciappi, O.P. (6 October 1909 – 23 April 1996) was an Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who served as personal theologian to five popes from 1955 to 1989, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1977.
Biography
Born i ...
in 1979. After his death in 1996,
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
reformed the academy on 28 January 1999 with his apostolic letter ''Inter munera Academiarium'', issued shortly after his
encyclical
An encyclical was originally a circular letter sent to all the churches of a particular area in the ancient Roman Church. At that time, the word could be used for a letter sent out by any bishop. The word comes from the Late Latin (originally from ...
''
Fides et ratio''. The office of president would no longer be bestowed on a cardinal and its appointment would be for a five-year period. Abelardo Lobato, professor of philosophy at the College of Saint Thomas, the future
Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, ''Angelicum'', served as president from 1999 to 2005.
Present day
With Pope Francis' reorganization of the
Roman Curia as of 5 June 2022 as provided for in the apostolic constitution ''
Praedicate evangelium
''Praedicate evangelium'' (''Preach the gospel'') is an apostolic constitution reforming the Roman Curia and was published and promulgated on 19 March 2022 by Pope Francis; the document took effect on 5 June 2022.
It has fully abrogated a ...
'', the new
Dicastery for Culture and Education
The Dicastery for Culture and Education is an administrative unit of the Roman Curia. It began operations on 5 June 2022 as established by the apostolic constitution ''Praedicate evangelium'' promulgated on 19 March 2022. It was formed through t ...
became responsible for coordinating the work of the academy with its own work and that of a number of other bodies.
The academy was founded in 1879 by Pope Leo XIII to study and promote the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas in service to the Church and the world.
["Notre Dame philosopher appointed to Vatican academy on St. Thomas Aquinas", ''Notre Dame News'', August 27, 2019]
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The Pontifical Academy of Saint Thomas Aquinas is temporarily headquartered in the Casina Pio IV in the Vatican City
Vatican City (), officially the Vatican City State ( it, Stato della Città del Vaticano; la, Status Civitatis Vaticanae),—'
* german: Vatikanstadt, cf. '—' (in Austria: ')
* pl, Miasto Watykańskie, cf. '—'
* pt, Cidade do Vati ...
. Its objectives, as stated in the academy's ''Yearbook 2007'', are the following:
* Carry out research, explain, and disseminate the teaching of Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas, OP (; it, Tommaso d'Aquino, lit=Thomas of Aquino; 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and priest who was an influential philosopher, theologian and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism; he is known wi ...
* Propose Aquinas as a model Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
teacher, seeker of truth
Truth is the property of being in accord with fact or reality.Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionarytruth 2005 In everyday language, truth is typically ascribed to things that aim to represent reality or otherwise correspond to it, such as beliefs ...
, lover of good
In most contexts, the concept of good denotes the conduct that should be preferred when posed with a choice between possible actions. Good is generally considered to be the opposite of evil and is of interest in the study of ethics, morality, ph ...
, and scholar of all learning
Learning is the process of acquiring new understanding, knowledge, behaviors, skills, value (personal and cultural), values, attitudes, and preferences. The ability to learn is possessed by humans, animals, and some machine learning, machines ...
* Be at the service of all the teaching of Aquinas in accord with the Christian tradition and the magisterium
The magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church is the church's authority or office to give authentic interpretation of the Word of God, "whether in its written form or in the form of Tradition." According to the 1992 Catechism of the Catholic Chur ...
of the church, especially as set out in the encyclicals ''Aeterni Patris
''Aeterni Patris'' (English: Of the Eternal Father) was an encyclical issued by Pope Leo XIII in August 1879, (not to be confused with the apostolic letter of the same name written by Pope Pius IX in 1868 calling the First Vatican Council). ...
'' and ''Fides et ratio''
* Explain, in as much as this is possible, the mystery of faith and the analogical connections between articles of faith
Faith, derived from Latin ''fides'' and Old French ''feid'', is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or In the context of religion, one can define faith as "belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion".
Religious people often ...
according to the thinking of Aquinas, thereby also honouring his title, ''Doctor Communis''
* Encourage interaction between faith and reason, and foster increasing dialogue between philosophy
Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
and theology
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 ...
* Amicable cooperation with members of other academies to promote Christian philosophy and theology
* Stimulate international interaction between scholars of 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 Aquinas
* Encourage research into the work and thought of Aquinas
The Academy meets annually in Rome. The scholars decided to adopt annual themes for their meetings to align with the interests and priorities expressed by the pope. In 2019 the theme was "salvation",[ drawn from the letter "Placuit Deo" on aspects of Christian salvation.
The current president of the PAST is Serge Thomas Bonino.] The current secretary is Bishop Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo
Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo (born 8 September 1942) is an Argentine prelate of the Catholic Church who was Chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences from 1998 to 2022. He was made a bishop in 2 ...
.
See also
* Index of Vatican City–related articles
This is an index of Vatican City–related topics.
0-9
* 00120 (Vatican postcode)
A
*''Acta Apostolicae Sedis''
*''Angels Unawares''
* Anima Mundi museum
*Annates
*Anthem
* Apostolic Nunciature
*Apostolic Palace
*Architecture of Vatican City
* ...
* Pontifical Academy of Sciences
The Pontifical Academy of Sciences ( it, Pontificia accademia delle scienze, la, Pontificia Academia Scientiarum) is a scientific academy of the Vatican City, established in 1936 by Pope Pius XI. Its aim is to promote the progress of the math ...
* Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences
The Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences ( la, Pontificia Academia Scientiarum Socialium, or PASS) is a pontifical academy established on 1 January 1994 by Pope John Paul II and is headquartered in the Casina Pio IV in Vatican City. It operate ...
References
Footnotes
Bibliography
* ''Year Book'', first edition, Pontificia Academia Sancti Thomae Aquinatis, Vatican City, 2001.
* ''Yearbook'', second edition, Pontificia Academia Sancti Thomae Aquinatis, Vatican City, 2007.
* D. Berger, ''In dulcedine societatis quaerere veritatem. Zur Geschichte der Päpstlichen Akademie des hl. Thomas von Aquin''. Doctor Angelicus II (2002), 135–180.
* A. Piolanti, ''La Pontificia Academia Romana di S. Tommaso''. Studi Tomistici 17 (1981) 223–235.
External links
Official website
{{Authority control
Educational institutions established in 1879
Pope Leo XIII
1879 establishments in Italy
Dicastery for Culture and Education