Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas

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Facade of the chapel of Ss. Dominic & Sixtus at the University

The Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (Pontificia Università San Tommaso d'Aquino), officially the Pontificia Studiorum Universitas a S. Thoma Aq. in Urbe but commonly known as the Angelicum, is one of the major pontifical universities of Rome.

[edit] History

The University has its historical roots in the medieval House of Studies of the Dominican Order in Rome. Juan Solano, then bishop of Cuzco in Peru (died January 14, 1580), founded the new Italo-Spanish College of Saint Thomas at the Roman convent of the Minerva. The rectors of the new College had to belong either to the Dominican Province of Rome or of Spain. The College of Saint Thomas was dedicated primarily to the education of Dominicans, a Catholic religious order dedicated to teaching. However, the House of Studies was also open to students who were outside the Order.

On May 26, 1727, Pope Benedict XIII gave to the Order’s major Houses of Study, and therefore also to the College of Saint Thomas, the right of conferring academic degrees in theology to students outside the Order.

Thanks to the generosity of Girolamo Cardinal Casanate († 3/2/1700), the College of Saint Thomas was enriched by the foundation of the Casanatense Library, a famous centre of philosophical-theological studies in Rome.

In 1873, the College of Saint Thomas had to leave its residence at the Minerva and was centered at various locations in Rome. Nevertheless, in 1882 the Faculty of Philosophy was founded and in 1896 the Faculty of Canon Law.

It was thanks to the efforts of Blessed Giacinto M. Cormier, Master General of the Order, that, on May 2, 1906, the College of Saint Thomas received the title Pontificium (Pontifical), from Pope Saint Pius X. This made the degrees conferred by the College equivalent to those of the world’s other Catholic Universities. By the Apostolic Letter of November 8, 1908, signed by the Supreme Pontiff on November 17, the new Pontifical College Angelicum was erected on the site of the College of Saint Thomas, with headquarters in Via San Vitale. This were transferred in 1932 to the appropriately expanded buildings of the ancient Dominican monastery of Ss. Domenico and Sisto.

In 1950, the Institute of Spirituality was founded and incorporated into the Faculty of Theology, and in 1951 the Institute of Social Sciences was founded within the Faculty of Philosophy. This last was elevated in 1974 to the rank of a Faculty.

On March 7, 1963, Blessed John XXIII, in the Motu Proprio Dominicianus Ordo, raised the Angelicum to the rank of Pontifical University.

Incorporated into the Angelicum’s Faculty of Theology is the Institute of Saint Nicholas at Bari, specializing in Ecumenical-Patristic and Greco-Byzantine Studies. The Fathers from the Dominican Province of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Italy administer the Institute.

Doctor Angelicus, Saint Thomas Aquinas, patron of the University, considered by the Catholic Church to be its greatest theologian

On July 2, 1964, the Superior Institute of Religious Science for the laity, Mater Ecclesiae, was incorporated into the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas. Several other Institutes of theological and philosophical studies are affiliated with the University.

Rooted in centuries old Dominican tradition, the University has maintained a traditional academic style as evidenced by its conservative approach during the deliberations of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council.

Today, the University is noted especially for its faculties of canon law, sacred theology, and Thomistic philosophy.

Italian is the language in which the courses in all the faculties are taught, except for the first cycle in sacred theology (S.T.B.) and the Mater Ecclesiae Institute in which it is possible to take courses in English.