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Oportet veritatem esse ultimum finem
totius universi (ScG 1.1)
The Pontifical
Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas was established on 15 October 1879 by Leo
XIII,
who approved its statutes with his 'Breve' of 9 May 1895. The Academy
was then
confirmed by St. Pius X with his apostolic letter of 23 January 1904
and
enlarged by Benedict XV on 31 December 1914. John Paul II then reformed
the
Academy on 28 January 1999 by his apostolic letter Inter Munera
Academiarum,
issued shortly after the encyclical Fides et Ratio. The
Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas carries out a
specific mission, which is to carry out research into, to defend, and
to
disseminate the doctrine of the Angelic Doctor, and, taking due
account of contemporary cultural traditions, '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' (Inter Munera Academiarum, n. 4).
In
this apostolic letter John Paul II invites us to refer to the
encyclical Aeterni Patris in which Leo XIII, reproposing
the doctrine of Vatican Council I, emphasised the urgent need to show
'how
philosophical thinking contributes in fundamental ways to faith and
theological
learning' (Fides et Ratio, n. 57).
The Pope gathers the fruits of the large-scale movement, which, from
the
nineteenth century to the threshold of the third millennium, led
philosophers
to deepen metaphysical research into the ultimate questions regarding
man and
the mystery of the human person himself. Then, taking into account the
importance of the human sciences, their contribution to knowledge
regarding
man, and the new questions generated by scientific research, directed
towards a
deeper knowledge concerning the mystery of man, the Pontiff invites the
Academicians to follow the indications on the subject proposed by
Vatican
Council II, as well as the guidelines that he himself has constantly
proposed
to the Church, ever since his first encyclical whose beginning Redemptor
Hominis made clear the chief direction of his pontificate. In the
words of the
Holy Father, Benedict XVI, in his address for the feast of St Thomas:
The relationship between
faith and reason is a serious challenge to the currently dominant
culture in
the Western world, and for this very reason our beloved John Paul II
decided to
dedicate an Encyclical to it, entitled, precisely, Fides et Ratio,
Faith
and Reason. Recently, I too returned to this topic in my Discourse to
the
University of Regensburg. (...) St Thomas Aquinas, with farsighted
wisdom,
succeeded in establishing a fruitful confrontation with the Arab and
Hebrew
thought of his time, to the point that he was considered an ever
up-to-date
teacher of dialogue with other cultures and religions. He knew how to
present
that wonderful Christian synthesis of reason and faith which today too,
for the
Western civilization, is a precious patrimony to draw from for an
effective
dialogue with the great cultural and religious traditions of the East
and South
of the world (Angelus, St Peter's Square, Sunday, 28 January 2007).
THE
PONTIFICAL ACADEMY OF ST THOMAS AQUINAS
Casina Pio IV
V-00120 VATICAN CITY
TEL. +39 0669883195 - FAX +39 0669885218
E-MAIL: past@acdscience.va
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