JOHN PAUL II FOR PERPETUAL REMEMBRANCE - 4. The Pontifical Academy of St Thomas Aquinas.

4. The Pontifical Academy of St Thomas Aquinas. "Doctor Humanitatis" is the name we give St Thomas Aquinas because he was always ready to receive the values of all cultures (Address to the Participants in the VIII International Thomistic Congress, 13 September 1980; Insegnamenti, III, 2 [1980] 609) In the cultural conditions of our time, it seems truly appropriate to develop further this part of Thomistic doctrine which deals with humanity, given that his assertions on the dignity of the human person and the use of his reason, in perfect harmony with the faith, make St Thomas a teacher for our time. Human beings, especially in the contemporary world, are concerned with this question: What is man? In employing this epithet, "Doctor Humanitatis", I am following in the footsteps of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council regarding the use of the teaching of Aquinas´ writings, both in the philosophical and theological training of priests (Decree Optatam totius, n. 16), and in deepening the harmony and agreement between faith and reason in universities (Declaration Gravissimum educationis, n. 10). In my recently published Letter Fides et ratio, I wished to recall the enthusiasm of my Predecessor Leo XIII in promulgating the Encyclical Letter which began with the words Aeterni Patris (4 August 1879; ASS 11 [1878-1879] 97115): "The great Pope revisited and developed the First Vatican Council's teaching on the relationship between faith and reason, showing how philosophical thinking contributes in fundamental ways to faith and theological learning. More than a century later, many of the insights of his Encyclical Letter have lost none of their interest from either a practical or pedagogical point of view - most particularly, his insistence upon the incomparable value of the philosophy of St Thomas. A renewed insistence upon the thought of the Angelic Doctor seemed to Pope Leo XIII the best way to recover the practice of a philosophy consonant with the demands of faith" (Fides et ratio, n. 57) This truly memorable Letter was entitled Epistula Encyclica de Philosophia Christiana ad mentem Sancti Thomae Aquinatis Doctoris Angelici in Scholis Catholicis instauranda.

The same Leo XIII created the Roman Academy of St Thomas Aquinas (Apostolic Letter Iampridem ad Em.mum Card. Antoninum De Luca, 15 October 1879), so that the recommendations of this Encyclical would be put into practice. The following year, delighted with the work begun, he wrote to the Cardinals responsible for the new Academy (Apost. Let., 21 November 1880) Fifteen years later he approved the Statutes and established further norms (Apost. Brief Quod iam inde, 9 May 1895) With the Apostolic Letter In praecipuis laudibus, 23 January 1904, St Pius X confirmed the Academy's privileges and regulations. The Statutes were amended and completed with the approval of the Roman Pontiffs Benedict XV (11 February 1916) and Pius XI, who on 10 January 1934 combined this Academy with the Pontifical Academy of the Catholic Religion, which, in circumstances that were then very different, had been founded in 1801 by Fr Giovanni Fortunato Zamboni. I am pleased to recall Achille Ratti (1882) and especially Giovanni Battista Montini (1922), who, as young priests, obtained their doctorates in Thomistic philosophy at this Roman Academy of St Thomas and were later called to the Supreme Pontificate, taking the names of Pius XI and Paul VI. To carry out the wishes expressed in my Encyclical Letter, I considered it opportune to revise the Statutes of the Pontifical Academy of St Thomas, in order to make it an effective instrument for the Church and for all humanity. In the cultural circumstances of the present day described above, it seems appropriate, indeed necessary, for this Academy to serve as a central and international forum for studying St Thomas' teaching better and more carefully, so that the metaphysical realism of the actus essendi which pervades all the Angelic Doctor's philosophy and theology can enter into dialogue with the many directions in today's research and doctrine. Therefore, with knowledge and mature deliberation, and the fullness of my Apostolic authority, by virtue of this Letter I approve in perpetuum the Statutes of the Pontifical Academy of St Thomas Aquinas, duly drawn up and newly revised, granting them the force of Apostolic approval.

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