Thomas Joseph White, O.P., (born 1971) is an American

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

and theologian. On September 14, 2021, he succeeded Michał Paluch, OP, as

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of the

Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas A pontifical ( la, pontificale) is a Christian liturgical book containing the liturgies that only a bishop may perform. Among the liturgies are those of the ordinal for the ordination and consecration of deacons, priests, and bishops to Holy ...

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(the “Angelicum”).

Biography

White grew up in southeast

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

in an inter-religious household. His father is a Jewish doctor and his mother a nurse. He was baptized by an Episcopal priest in his 20s, but eventually converted to Catholicism his senior year of college. He completed his bachelor’s in religious studies from Brown University (1993) and his Master’s (1995) and

Doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...

(2002) in

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 ...

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...

. He entered the

Order of Preachers 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 2003. He completed his

licentiate in Sacred Theology Licentiate in Sacred Theology ( la, Sacrae Theologiae Licentiatus; abbreviated STL) is the second of three ecclesiastical degrees in theology (the first being the Baccalaureate in Sacred Theology and the third being the Doctorate in Sacred Theol ...

(2007) at the

Dominican House of Studies The Dominican House of Studies is a Catholic institution in Washington, DC, housing both the Priory of the Immaculate Conception, a community of the Province of St. Joseph of the Order of Preachers (Dominicans), and the Pontifical Faculty of the I ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

He professed

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on May 17, 2007, and on May 23, 2008, was ordained a priest. His research and teaching concentrate on

Thomistic Thomism is the philosophical and theological school that arose as a legacy of the work Work may refer to: * Work (human activity), intentional activity people perform to support themselves, others, or the community ** Manual labour, physica ...

metaphysics,

Christology In Christianity, Christology (from the Greek grc, Χριστός, Khristós, label=none and grc, -λογία, -logia, label=none), translated literally from Greek as "the study of Christ", is a branch of theology that concerns Jesus. Differ ...

and Roman Catholic-Reformed

ecumenical dialogue Ecumenism (), also spelled oecumenism, is the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity. The adjec ...

. He was appointed an ordinary member of the

Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas 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 ...

in 2011. White taught at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C from 2008-2018, and was the founder and Director of the Washington DC

Thomistic Institute The Thomistic Institute is an academic institute of the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception at the Dominican House of Studies, a Catholic pontifical faculty run by the Order of Preachers (Dominicans) located in Washington, D.C. Foun ...

from 2009 until his departure for Rome in 2018. In 2015 White became co-editor of '' Nova et Vetera'' Journal, an American Catholic Theological journal. In 2018 he was assigned to teach at the Angelicum and function as the Director of the Angelicum Thomistic Institute. In June 2021, he was appointed rector of the Angelicum. On May 13, 2022 White delivered the

commencement address A commencement speech or commencement address is a speech given to graduating students, generally at a university, although the term is also used for secondary education institutions and in similar institutions around the world. The commencement ...

at the Catholic University of America and was awarded an

Honorary Doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

of Humane Letters. In June 2022 White was appointed president of the Academy of Catholic Theology, one of the principal societies of academic Catholic theology in the United States. White is also a founding member of the Roman Catholic bluegrass group, the Hillbilly Thomists, which has released three studio albums, to date. https://www.nationalreview.com/2022/12/get-religion-and-a-joy-for-life-with-the-hillbilly-thomists/

Bibliography

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References

External links

Thomas Joseph White on Angelicum Webpage

Thomas Joseph White on HillBilly Thomists

Thomas Joseph White on Philpapers
{{DEFAULTSORT:White, Thomas Joseph 1971 births 21st-century American philosophers Catholic philosophers Roman Catholic theologians Brown University alumni Alumni of the University of Oxford Dominican House of Studies alumni Living people Metaphysicians Philosophers of religion Academic staff of the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas Scholars of medieval philosophy Thomists