
The Thomistic Institute
1,899 episodes — Page 10 of 38
The Sacrament of Penance: A Sign Working Grace | Fr. Irenaeus Dunlevy, O.P.
This lecture was given on February 17th, 2024, at The Dominican House of Studies.For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-eventsAbout the Speaker: Fr. Irenaeus Dunlevy was born in Columbus, Ohio and grew up in the southeast suburb of Canal Winchester. The youngest of four children, his parents would drive everyone on Sunday to Mass at St. Mary’s Church. However, after leaving the area for college, his family joined the parish of St. Patrick’s in Columbus. While home on Christmas and summer breaks, Fr. Irenaeus would join his family to hear the holy preaching of the friars. He received a Bachelor and Masters of Architecture from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, and practiced for a religious architecture firm in the DC area. After meeting the student brothers and reading about the life of St. Dominic and the Order, he began to consider a religious vocation with the Province of St. Joseph. “I find the balance of contemplative and apostolic life, the charism of study, the reverence of the liturgy and the fraternal community all things that lead to a happy life fulfilled by giving people knowledge of salvation.”

The Transformative Power of Beauty and Friendship w/ Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P. & Prof. Thomas Hibbs
Join Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P. of Aquinas 101, Godsplaining, and Pints with Aquinas for an off-campus conversation with Prof. Thomas Hibbs about the transformative power of beauty and friendship, how art, beauty, and morality fit together, and the role of beauty in theological contemplation.Links referenced:https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/michelangelo-merisi-da-caravaggio-the-supper-at-emmaus https://www.gardnermuseum.org/experience/collection/10953 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5y99rpk8toYou can watch this interview on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBIWVvveB_g.About the speaker: Thomas Hibbs is currently J. Newton Rayzor Sr. Professor of Philosophy at Baylor where he is also Dean Emeritus, having served for 16 years as the inaugural Dean of the Honors College. At Baylor he was also the inaugural director of Baylor in Washington, D.C. where he currently runs a summer program on Religion and Social Life. He has served as department chair at Boston College and as president of the University of Dallas.Hibbs has published more than thirty scholarly articles, the most recent of which is “Aquinas and Black Natural Law.” He has published eight books, the most recent of which is Theology of Creation: Ecology, Art, and Laudato Si’ (University of Notre Dame Press, 2023). He has also published two books on film and philosophy and one book on art. He has published more than 100 reviews and discussion articles on film, theater, art, and higher education in a variety of venues including First Things, The Chronicle of Higher Education, The Wall Street Journal, and National Review. He writes regularly for The Dallas Morning News.Hibbs’ lectures have been protested by nihilists at Boston University and by communists in Palermo, Sicily.
Devoutly I Adore Thee: The Eucharistic Poetry and Prayer of St. Thomas Aquinas | Fr. Dominic Legge, O.P.
This lecture was given on June 29th, 2024, at The Dominican House of Studies.For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-eventsAbout the Speaker: Fr. Dominic Legge is the Director of the Thomistic Institute and Associate Professor in Systematic Theology at the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. He is an Ordinary Member of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas, and holds a J.D. from Yale Law School, a Ph.L. from the School of Philosophy of the Catholic University of America, and a doctorate in Sacred Theology from the University of Fribourg in Switzerland. He entered the Order of Preachers in 2001, after having practiced constitutional law for several years as a trial attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice. He has also taught at The Catholic University of America Law School and at Providence College. He is the author of The Trinitarian Christology of St. Thomas Aquinas (Oxford University Press, 2017).
Romance and the Sacrament of Reconciliation | Fr. Dominic Langevin, O.P.
This lecture was given on February 2nd, 2024, at Iowa State University.For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-eventsAbout the Speaker:Fr. Dominic Langevin, O.P., is dean and assistant professor of dogmatic theology at the Dominican House of Studies, where he teaches courses principally in sacramental theology and liturgiology. He is the secretary/treasurer of the Academy of Catholic Theology. He did his undergraduate degree at Yale University. He entered the Dominican Order in 1998 and was ordained a priest in 2005. He earned his doctorate from the University of Fribourg, Switzerland. He is the author of the book From Passion to Paschal Mystery and was editor of the journal The Thomist from 2018 to 2021.
Why Study Created Things? | Prof. Karin Öberg
This lecture was given on April 27th, 2024, at The Dominican House of Studies.For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-eventsAbout the Speaker: Karin Öberg is Professor of Astronomy at Harvard University. Her specialty is astrochemistry and her research aims to uncover how chemical processes affect the outcome of planet formation, especially the chemical habitability of nascent planets. She did postdoctoral work at Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics as a NASA Hubble fellow, focusing on millimeter observations of planet-forming disks around young stars.
The Analogy of Word & Love | Fr. Timothy Bellamah, O.P.
This lecture was given on November 11th, 2023, at The Dominican House of Studies.For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-eventsAbout the Speaker:Fr. Bellamah was born and raised in Washington, D.C. He entered the Order of Preachers in 1991 and was ordained a priest in 1998. He studied at Wake Forest University (B.S., 1982), the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception (M.Div. and S.T.B., 1997; S.T.L, 1999) and the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Paris, (Ph.D., Section des sciences Religieuses, 2008).He has previously taught at Providence College in the Department of Theology and the Department of the Development of Western Civilization. From 2010 to 2018 he served as editor of the speculative review The Thomist and is a member of the Leonine Commission, a team of Dominican scholars responsible for the production of critical Latin editions of the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas. He is also currently preparing a critical Latin edition of the Commentary on John’s Gospel by one of St. Thomas’ Dominican contemporaries, William of Alton.
Speak the Truth in Love | Prof. Adam Eitel
This lecture was given on June 22nd, 2023, at Stonyhurst College.For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-eventsAbout the Speaker:Professor Eitel is Associate Professor of Theology at the University of Dallas. Before joining the UD faculty in 2023, he taught for eight years at Yale University, where he held appointments in the Divinity School, the Program in Medieval Studies, and the Humanities Program. His research and teaching bring topics in the history of Christian theology to bear on questions of fundamental moral concern. A specialist in medieval scholasticism, his particular research interests span topics in doctrinal and moral theology, especially in the works of Thomas Aquinas and his contemporaries.
Prudence: The Forgotten Queen | Prof. John Cuddeback
This lecture was given on September 10th, 2023, at Dominican House of Studies.For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-eventsAbout the Speaker:John A. Cuddeback is professor of Philosophy at Christendom College, where he has taught for twenty-five years. He lectures widely on topics including virtue, fatherhood, friendship, and household, and his professional writings appear in various academic journals and books.
The Cardinal Virtues | Prof. Patrick Callahan
This lecture was given on November 2nd, 2023, at Purdue.For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-eventsAbout the Speaker:Patrick Callahan is director of the Newman Institute for Catholic Thought & Culture as well as Assistant Professor of English and Humanities at St. Gregory the Great Seminary. There he directs and teaches in a Great Books Catholic program for students at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and other regional colleges. He did his undergraduate work at the University of Dallas and his graduate work at Fordham University in Classics. He lives in Lincoln, NE with his wife and 5 children.
Love: Commander of the Virtues | Prof. Adam Eitel
This lecture was given on April 9th, 2024, at Cornell University.For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-eventsAbout the Speaker:Professor Eitel is Associate Professor of Theology at the University of Dallas. Before joining the UD faculty in 2023, he taught for eight years at Yale University, where he held appointments in the Divinity School, the Program in Medieval Studies, and the Humanities Program. His research and teaching bring topics in the history of Christian theology to bear on questions of fundamental moral concern. A specialist in medieval scholasticism, his particular research interests span topics in doctrinal and moral theology, especially in the works of Thomas Aquinas and his contemporaries.
Does Modern Neuroscience Disprove the Existence of the Soul? | Dr. Paul LaPenna
This lecture was given on April 4th, 2024, at Indiana University.For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.About the Speaker:Dr. Paul LaPenna is a neurologist in Greenville, SC and is a Professor of Clinical Medicine at the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine, Carolinas Campus. Dr. LaPenna completed his neurology residency at Indiana University School of Medicine. His skill set is focused on treatment of neurological emergencies and performing and interpreting electrophysiological studies of the brain and peripheral nervous system. He is currently the Director of Stroke at Bon Secours Mercy Health in Greenville, SC. As an Associate Professor of Neurology, Dr. LaPenna has won numerous teaching awards, including Clinical Medicine Professor of the Neuroscience Curriculum from 2019-2022. For the 2020-2021 academic year, Dr. LaPenna was awarded Preceptor of the Year. For his care towards patients, he was elected to the Arnold P. Gold Humanism Honor Society in 2016. Dr. LaPenna has an interest in the relationship between science and faith—in particular, the relationship between neuroscience and the soul, neuroscience and free will, and the overreaching claims of science. In addition, Dr. LaPenna speaks on the problem of suffering and the dignity of the human person. Saint Thomas Aquinas has been a major influence in Dr. LaPenna’s intellectual and faith journey.

The Meaning of Suffering & Human Flourishing w/ Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P. & Prof. Eleonore Stump
Join Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P. of Aquinas 101, Godsplaining, and Pints with Aquinas for an off-campus conversation with Prof. Eleonore Stump about the meaning of suffering, the link between suffering and human flourishing, and the role of stories in understanding the arcs of our lives.You can watch this interview on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/TomdTsBmvDY.About the speaker: Eleonore Stump is the Robert J. Henle Professor of Philosophy at Saint Louis University. She is also Honorary Professor at Wuhan University, the Logos Institute and School of Divinity at St. Andrews, and York University; and she is a Professorial Fellow at Australian Catholic University. She has published extensively in philosophy of religion, contemporary metaphysics, and medieval philosophy. Her books include Aquinas (2003), Wandering in Darkness: Narrative and the Problem of Suffering (2010), Atonement (2018), and The Image of God. The Problem of Evil and the Problem of Mourning (2022). She has given the Gifford Lectures (Aberdeen, 2003), the Wilde lectures (Oxford, 2006), the Stewart lectures (Princeton, 2009), and the Stanton lectures (Cambridge, 2018). In 2021, she was given the award of Johanna Quandt Young Academy Distinguished Senior Scientist by the Goethe University (Frankfurt, Germany). She is past president of the Society of Christian Philosophers, Philosophers in Jesuit Education, the American Catholic Philosophical Association, and the American Philosophical Association, Central Division; and she is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Do We Have Free Will? | Fr. Stephen Brock
This lecture was given on March 25th, 2024, at University of Texas at Austin.For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-eventsAbout the Speaker:Stephen L. Brock is a priest of the Prelature of Opus Dei (ordained 1992). He is Ordinary Professor of Medieval Philosophy at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome, where he began teaching in 1990. Since 2008 he has been an Ordinary Member of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas. Since 2017 he has been a visiting professor in the Department of Philosophy of the University of Chicago. He is the author of Action & Conduct: Thomas Aquinas and the Theory of Action (T&T Clark, 1998); The Philosophy of Saint Thomas Aquinas: A Sketch (Wipf & Stock, 2015); The Light that Binds: a Study in Thomas Aquinas's Metaphysics of Natural Law (Wipf & Stock, 2020); and numerous articles on various aspects of Aquinas’s thought.
It's My Right: What Are Natural Rights and What Rights Do We Have? | Prof. V. Bradley Lewis
This lecture was given on April 3rd, 2024, at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.About the Speaker:Bradley Lewis is associate professor of philosophy at the Catholic University of America. He specializes in political and legal philosophy, especially in classical Greek political thought and in the theory of natural law. He holds a B.A. from the University of Maryland and a Ph.D. from the University of Notre Dame. He has published scholarly articles in Polity, History of Political Thought, the Southern Journal of Philosophy, Philosophy and Rhetoric, Communio, the Josephinum Journal of Theology, the Pepperdine Law Review, the Oxford Journal of Law and Religion, and the Proceedings of the American Catholic Philosophical Association, as well as chapters in a number of books. He is currently working on a book project provisionally titled The Common Good and the Modern State. He is also a fellow of the Institute for Human Ecology and serves as associate editor of the American Journal of Jurisprudence.
Do Christians Believe in Predestination? | Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P.
This lecture was given on March 11th, 2024, at the University of California, Berkeley.For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-eventsAbout the Speaker:Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P. (Dominican House of Studies) is from Pennsylvania and graduated from Franciscan University of Steubenville. He previously served as the Assistant Director of Campus Outreach for the Thomistic Institute in Washington, DC, and associate pastor of St. Louis Bertrand Catholic Church in Louisville, KY where he also taught at Bellarmine University. He currently serves as an adjunct professor of dogmatic theology at the Dominican House of Studies and an Assistant Director of the Thomistic Institute. He is a contributor on the Pints with Aquinas show and a co-host of the Catholic Classics podcast.Fr. Gregory is the author of Prudence: Choose Confidently, Live Boldly (Our Sunday Visitor, 2022) and co-author with Matt Fradd of Marian Consecration With Aquinas: A Nine Day Path for Growing Closer to the Mother of God (TAN Books, 2020).
A Thomistic Take on the Work of Fear (and How to Work with Fear) in the Human Heart | Sr. Anna Wray, O.P.
This lecture was given on April 12th, 2024, at Florida State University.For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-eventsAbout the Speaker:Sister Anna Wray is a native of Connecticut and a member of the Dominican Sisters of Saint Cecilia of Nashville, TN. Sister received her phD in philosophy from The Catholic University of America, having written her dissertation on Aristotle’s account of the activity of contemplation. Sister is an assistant professor on the faculty of CUA's School of Philosophy in Washington, DC, where she regularly teaches courses in the history of philosophy, logic, rhetoric, ethics, philosophy of religion, and philosophical psychology. She is also an adjunct professor for Aquinas College, where she teaches metaphysics and epistemology to her sisters in formation. When time permits, sister enjoys the occasional trip that allows her to speak to (and with) others who share her loves.
How Does the Trinity Dwell in our Souls? | Fr. John Baptist Ku, O.P.
This lecture was given on November 11th, 2023, at Dominican House of Studies.For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.About the Speaker:Fr. John Baptist Ku was born in Manhattan (1965) and grew up in Fairfax, Virginia. After graduating from School of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Virginia, he worked in software design at AT&T for five years before entering the Dominican Order in 1992. After obtaining his S.T.B./M.Div. (1998) and S.T.L. (2000) at the Dominican House of Studies, he served for three years in St. Pius Parish in Providence, R.I., before going on to complete his studies doctoral studies at the University of Fribourg in 2009. He was awarded the Thomas Aquinas Dissertation Prize by the Aquinas Center for Theological Renewal at Ave Maria University (2010) for his dissertation on God the Father in the Theology of St. Thomas Aquinas. He now teaches at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C., where he has also served as book review editor of The Thomist, chaplain to commuter students, and chaplain to the Immaculate Conception Chapter of Third Order Dominicans.
Do Trees Have Souls? | Prof. Joshua Hochschild
This lecture was given on February 1st, 2024, at University of Oregon.For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-eventsAbout the Speaker:Joshua Hochschild is Professor of Philosophy at Mount St. Mary’s University, where he also served six years as the inaugural Dean of the College of Liberal Arts. His primary research is in medieval logic, metaphysics, and ethics, with broad interest in liberal education and the continuing relevance of the Catholic intellectual tradition. He is the author of The Semantics of Analogy: Rereading Cajetan’s De Nominum Analogia (2010), translator of Claude Panaccio’s Mental Language: From Plato to William of Ockham (2017), and co-author of A Mind at Peace: Reclaiming an Ordered Soul in the Age of Distraction (2017). His writing has appeared in First Things, Commonweal, Modern Age and the Wall Street Journal. For 2020-21 he served as President of the American Catholic Philosophical Association.
Are Quality of Life Judgements Ethical? | Prof. Gina Maria Noia
This lecture was given on November 8th, 2024, at University of Virginia.For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-eventsAbout the Speaker:Gina Maria Noia, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Theology at Providence College. She received her PhD in Theology and Health Care Ethics from Saint Louis University. She has served as a clinical ethicist for OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria, IL and St. Alexius Hospital in St. Louis, MO, and she is published in Christian Bioethics and the Journal of Moral Theology. Outside of academia, you’ll find her spending time outdoors with her (philosopher) husband, Justin Noia, PhD, and their vivacious children.
Do You Have An Immortal Soul? | Prof. Edward Feser
This lecture was given on January 25th, 2024, at the United States Military Academy.For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-eventsAbout the Speaker:Edward Feser is Professor of Philosophy at Pasadena City College in Pasadena, California. He is the author of many books and academic articles on topics in natural theology, metaphysics, philosophy of mind, and ethics and political philosophy.
Accessing Aquinas' Account of Acedia: Can We Choose Joy? | Sr. Anna Wray, O.P.
This lecture was given on February 23rd, 2024, at Ave Maria University.For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-eventsAbout the Speaker:Sister Anna Wray is a native of Connecticut and a member of the Dominican Sisters of Saint Cecilia of Nashville, TN. Sister received her phD in philosophy from The Catholic University of America, having written her dissertation on Aristotle’s account of the activity of contemplation. Sister is an assistant professor on the faculty of CUA's School of Philosophy in Washington, DC, where she regularly teaches courses in the history of philosophy, logic, rhetoric, ethics, philosophy of religion, and philosophical psychology. She is also an adjunct professor for Aquinas College, where she teaches metaphysics and epistemology to her sisters in formation. When time permits, sister enjoys the occasional trip that allows her to speak to (and with) others who share her loves.

Friendship and Virtue: Seeing the Good in Others w/ Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P. & Prof. Michael Pakaluk
Join Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P. of Aquinas 101, Godsplaining, and Pints with Aquinas for an off-campus conversation with Prof. Michael Pakaluk about what we can learn from Aristotle about friendship and virtue in the classical tradition, how the family helps children grow in virtue, why it's important to bear with others patiently, the healing power of sacrifice and forgiveness, and the role of natural law in social unions.You can watch this interview on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/fQB-78wUnowAbout the speaker:Michael Pakaluk is an internationally recognized Aristotelian scholar who studied under Quine and Putnam at Harvard while writing a dissertation on the philosophy of friendship under John Rawls. Besides several books and many articles in philosophy, he is at work on a series of interpretations of the gospels (The Memoirs of St. Peter, Mary's Voice in the Gospel According to John, and, forthcoming, "Be Good Bankers": The Divine Economy in the Gospel of Matthew). He is currently writing an intellectual autobiography and books on John Henry Newman and Natural Law. He has made important contributions to the professional ethics of accountants. Pakaluk is a regular contributor to The Catholic Thing, and his essays may be found in Crisis, Our Sunday Visitor, First Things, and other venues. He lives in Hyattsville, Maryland, with his wife, Catherine, a professor of economics, and their children. In 2011 he was appointed a member of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas by Pope Benedict.
The Philosophy, Theology, and Psychology of Happiness | Prof. Christopher Kaczor
This lecture was given on February 23rd, 2024, at Claremont Colleges.For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-eventsAbout the Speaker:Dr. Christopher Kaczor (rhymes with razor) graduated from the Honors Program of Boston College and earned a Ph.D. four years later from the University of Notre Dame. A Fulbright Scholar, Dr. Kaczor is a former Federal Chancellor Fellow at the University of Cologne and William E. Simon Visiting Fellow in the James Madison Program at Princeton University and Honorary Professor in Bishop Barron's Word on Fire Institute. His seventeen books include The Gospel of Happiness, The Seven Big Myths about Marriage, A Defense of Dignity, The Seven Big Myths about the Catholic Church, The Ethics of Abortion, O Rare Ralph McInerny: Stories and Reflections on a Legendary Notre Dame Professor, Thomas Aquinas on the Cardinal Virtues; Life Issues-Medical Choices; Thomas Aquinas on Faith, Hope, and Love; The Edge of Life, and Proportionalism and the Natural Law Tradition. Dr. Kaczor’s views have been in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, Huffington Post, National Review, NPR, BBC, EWTN, ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS, MSNBC, TEDx, and The Today Show.
The Philosophy, Theology, and Psychology of Happiness | Prof. Christopher Kaczor
This lecture was given on February 23rd, 2024, at Claremont Colleges.For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-eventsAbout the Speaker:Dr. Christopher Kaczor (rhymes with razor) graduated from the Honors Program of Boston College and earned a Ph.D. four years later from the University of Notre Dame. A Fulbright Scholar, Dr. Kaczor is a former Federal Chancellor Fellow at the University of Cologne and William E. Simon Visiting Fellow in the James Madison Program at Princeton University and Honorary Professor in Bishop Barron's Word on Fire Institute. His seventeen books include The Gospel of Happiness, The Seven Big Myths about Marriage, A Defense of Dignity, The Seven Big Myths about the Catholic Church, The Ethics of Abortion, O Rare Ralph McInerny: Stories and Reflections on a Legendary Notre Dame Professor, Thomas Aquinas on the Cardinal Virtues; Life Issues-Medical Choices; Thomas Aquinas on Faith, Hope, and Love; The Edge of Life, and Proportionalism and the Natural Law Tradition. Dr. Kaczor’s views have been in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, Huffington Post, National Review, NPR, BBC, EWTN, ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS, MSNBC, TEDx, and The Today Show.
A Roadmap to Happiness: From Aristotle to Christ | Fr. Raphael Mary Salzillo, O.P.
This lecture was given on April 20th, 2024, at St. Albert's Priory.For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-eventsAbout the Speaker:Fr. Raphael Mary Salzillo, O.P. is a Dominican friar of the Western Province. Originally from Oregon, he converted to the Catholic faith in high school. He went on to study applied physics for seven years before joining the Dominican Order. He was ordained to the priesthood in 2009, and was then sent by the Order to study philosophy at the University of Notre Dame. In 2019 he moved to Houston and now teaches philosophy at the University of St. Thomas.
Happiness and the Limits of Psychology | Prof. Christopher Kaczor
This lecture was given on April 20th, 2024, at St. Albert's Priory.For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-eventsAbout the Speaker:Dr. Christopher Kaczor (rhymes with razor) graduated from the Honors Program of Boston College and earned a Ph.D. four years later from the University of Notre Dame. A Fulbright Scholar, Dr. Kaczor is a former Federal Chancellor Fellow at the University of Cologne and William E. Simon Visiting Fellow in the James Madison Program at Princeton University and Honorary Professor in Bishop Barron's Word on Fire Institute. His seventeen books include The Gospel of Happiness, The Seven Big Myths about Marriage, A Defense of Dignity, The Seven Big Myths about the Catholic Church, The Ethics of Abortion, O Rare Ralph McInerny: Stories and Reflections on a Legendary Notre Dame Professor, Thomas Aquinas on the Cardinal Virtues; Life Issues-Medical Choices; Thomas Aquinas on Faith, Hope, and Love; The Edge of Life, and Proportionalism and the Natural Law Tradition. Dr. Kaczor’s views have been in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, Huffington Post, National Review, NPR, BBC, EWTN, ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS, MSNBC, TEDx, and The Today Show.
Four Levels Of Happiness | Prof. Christopher Kaczor
This lecture was given on April 19th, 2024, at St. Albert's Priory.For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-eventsAbout the Speaker:Dr. Christopher Kaczor (rhymes with razor) graduated from the Honors Program of Boston College and earned a Ph.D. four years later from the University of Notre Dame. A Fulbright Scholar, Dr. Kaczor is a former Federal Chancellor Fellow at the University of Cologne and William E. Simon Visiting Fellow in the James Madison Program at Princeton University and Honorary Professor in Bishop Barron's Word on Fire Institute. His seventeen books include The Gospel of Happiness, The Seven Big Myths about Marriage, A Defense of Dignity, The Seven Big Myths about the Catholic Church, The Ethics of Abortion, O Rare Ralph McInerny: Stories and Reflections on a Legendary Notre Dame Professor, Thomas Aquinas on the Cardinal Virtues; Life Issues-Medical Choices; Thomas Aquinas on Faith, Hope, and Love; The Edge of Life, and Proportionalism and the Natural Law Tradition. Dr. Kaczor’s views have been in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, Huffington Post, National Review, NPR, BBC, EWTN, ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS, MSNBC, TEDx, and The Today Show.
The Two Become One Flesh: The Catholic View Of The Sacrament Of Marriage | Prof. Paul Gondreau
This lecture was given on April 25th, 2024, at University of Oregon.For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-eventsAbout the Speaker:Paul Gondreau is professor of theology at Providence College, where he has taught for 26 years. He received his doctorate in theology from the University of Fribourg, Switzerland, doing his dissertation on Christ's full humanity (Christ's human passions/emotions) under the renowned Thomist scholar Jean-Pierre Torrell. He specializes in the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas and has published widely in the areas of Christology (focusing on Christ’s full humanity and his maleness), Christian anthropology, the moral meaning and purpose of human sexuality and sexual difference, the biblical vision of Aquinas' theology, the theology of disability, the sacrament of the Eucharist and the priesthood, and the Catholic vision of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.
St. Bonaventure's Influence On The Theology Of Joseph Ratzinger | Prof. Marianne Schlosser
This lecture was given on May 13th, 2024, at Oxford University.For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-eventsAbout the Speaker:Professor Marianne Schlosser works as a professor of spiritual theology at the University of Vienna. She was a member of the International Theological Commission from 2014-2019, and in 2018 received the Ratzinger prize in recognition of her work. Her main fields of research are theology, patrology, and the spirituality of the High Middle Ages, with particular emphasis on mendicant orders, the Eucharist, and the discovery of classical texts with a Christian ethos.
Friendship And The Common Good | Fr. Aquinas Guilbeau, O.P.
This lecture was given on November 3rd, 2023, at The Dominican House of Studies.For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-eventsAbout the Speaker:A native of Louisiana, Fr. Aquinas Guilbeau, O.P., entered the Dominican Province of St. Joseph in 2005. After several years of pastoral work in New York City, Fr. Guilbeau began doctoral studies in moral theology at the University of Fribourg, where he completed a dissertation on St. Thomas Aquinas’s doctrine of the common good. Currently, Fr. Guilbeau serves as the University Chaplain and Vice President for Ministry and Mission at The Catholic University of America.
The Saints Interpreting 'I have called you friends' (Jn 15:15) | Fr. Andrew Hofer, O.P.
This lecture was given on November 4th, 2023, at The Dominican House of Studies.For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-eventsAbout the Speaker:Fr. Andrew Hofer, O.P., (Ph.D. Notre Dame) is professor of patristics and ancient languages at the Pontifical Faculty of the Dominican House of Studies where he serves as the director of the doctoral program. He authored Christ in the Life and Teaching of Gregory of Nazianzus (Oxford University Press, 2013) and The Power of Patristic Preaching: The Word in Our Flesh (Catholic University of America, 2023). He co-authored A Living Sacrifice: Guidance for Men Discerning Religious Life (Vianney Vocations, 2019). Editor-in-chief of the academic journal The Thomist, Hofer is editor or co-editor of several volumes including The Oxford Handbook of Deification, The Cambridge Companion to Augustine's Sermons, and Thomas Aquinas and the Greek Fathers. He enjoys speaking with students about their theological and spiritual questions.
Holy Corpses: Incorrupt Bodies And Early Modern Science | Prof. Nuno Castel-Branco
This lecture was given on March 26th, 2024, at North Carolina State University.For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-eventsAbout the Speaker: Nuno Castel-Branco is a Research Fellow at All Souls College, Oxford. He completed his Ph.D. in the history of science at Johns Hopkins University in 2021 after earning an M.Sc. in Physics at the University of Lisbon. Previously, he was a Research Fellow at Harvard University’s Villa I Tatti in Florence and at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin. He has spoken about Galileo, Copernicus, and science and religion to broad audiences in the United States and Europe. His first book, The Traveling Anatomist, uses Nicolaus Steno as a tour guide for science, medicine, and religion in seventeenth-century Europe. His writing has appeared in places like the Wall Street Journal and Scientific American, as well as in research journals such as Notes and Records of the Royal Society, and Annals of Science.

Is Moral Relativism Really Just Conflict Avoidance? w/ Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P. & Prof. Michael Gorman
Join Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P. of Aquinas 101, Godsplaining, and Pints with Aquinas for an off-campus conversation with Prof. Michael Gorman about moral relativism and the avoidance of conflict, the importance of charitable disagreement, and how to engage in difficult conversations with charity.You can watch this interview on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/JSHeIYQI-osAbout the speaker:Michael Gorman is Professor of Philosophy at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. He has doctorates in philosophy and theology, and his work covers both areas, with a special emphasis on metaphysical themes. He is the author of over thirty-five scholarly articles, a book entitled Aquinas on the Metaphysics of the Hypostatic Union (Cambridge University Press, 2017), and a book that will appear in the spring of 2024 entitled A Contemporary Introduction to Thomistic Metaphysics (The Catholic University of America Press, 2024).
Source and Summit: How the Eucharist Makes Us Holy | Prof. Michael Wahl
This lecture was given on April 18th, 2024, at University of Arizona.For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-eventsAbout the Speaker:Michael Wahl is Assistant Professor of Theology at Providence College. His research focuses on Catholic moral theology, Thomistic ethics, virtue theory, and moral development. His articles have been published in The Thomist, Nova et Vetera, and Philosophy, Theology, & the Sciences. He lives in Providence, RI with his wife and four young children.
Thomas Aquinas on the Eucharist and Trinitarian Communion | Fr. Reginald Lynch, O.P.
This lecture was given on March 19th, 2024, at University of Edinburgh.For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-eventsAbout the Speaker:Fr. Reginald Lynch is a Dominican priest of the Province of St. Joseph and is currently an assistant professor of dogmatic and historical theology at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC (USA). His research has focused on a range of issues in historical and dogmatic theology, especially the sacramental theology of Thomas Aquinas. His first book, The Cleansing of the Heart: The Sacraments as Instrumental Causes in the Thomistic Tradition appeared in the Thomistic Ressourcement series at the Catholic University of America Press in 2017. This book examines Aquinas' approach to the efficacy of the sacraments, taking into account relevant textual developments and the implications of Aquinas' account of grace and sanctification in the context of broader developments in medieval theology. His most recent monograph focuses on Aquinas' Eucharistic theology in its original textual and historical context, and the reception history of Aquinas' approach to this subject. This book, Aquinas’s Summa Theologiae and Eucharistic Sacrifice in the Early Modern Period is being published by Oxford University Press in the Changing Paradigms in Historical and Systematic Theology series. Scheduled to appear in early 2024, this volume begins with Aquinas' thought in its medieval textual and historical context, and then proceeds to examine a series of later Dominican and Jesuit receptions of Aquinas' text.
How Does the Trinity Dwell in our Souls | Fr. John Baptist Ku, O.P.
This lecture was given on November 11th, 2023, at Dominican House of Studies.For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-eventsAbout the Speaker:Fr. John Baptist Ku, O.P. (Dominican House of Studies) was born in Manhattan (1965) and grew up in Fairfax, Virginia. After graduating from the University of Virginia, he worked at AT&T for five years before entering the Dominican Order in 1992. After serving for three years in St. Pius Parish in Providence, R.I., he completed his doctoral studies at the University of Fribourg in 2009. He now teaches at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C., where he has also served as book review editor of The Thomist (the faculty’s journal), chaplain to commuter students, and chaplain to the Immaculate Conception Chapter of Third Order Dominicans, and assistant student master. He served as student master and subprior at St. Dominic Priory from 2015-2018, and is currently the subprior.
Contemplating Personhood Within the Trinity | Fr. Timothy Bellamah, O.P.
This lecture was given on November 11th, 2023, at the Dominican House of Studies.For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-eventsAbout the Speaker:Fr. Timothy Bellamah, O.P. (Commissio Leonina) was born and raised in Washington, D.C. He entered the Order of Preachers in 1991 and was ordained a priest in 1998. He studied at Wake Forest University (B.S., 1982), the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception (M.Div. and S.T.B., 1997; S.T.L, 1999) and the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Paris, (Ph.D., Section des sciences Religieuses, 2008).He has previously taught at Providence College in the Department of Theology and the Department of the Development of Western Civilization. From 2010 to 2018 he served as editor of the speculative review The Thomist and is a member of the Leonine Commission, a team of Dominican scholars responsible for the production of critical Latin editions of the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas. He is also currently preparing a critical Latin edition of the Commentary on John’s Gospel by one of St. Thomas’ Dominican contemporaries, William of Alton.
The Analogy of Word & Love | Fr. Timothy Bellamah, O.P.
This lecture was given on November 11th, 2023, at the Dominican House of Studies.For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-eventsAbout the Speaker:Fr. Timothy Bellamah, O.P. (Commissio Leonina) was born and raised in Washington, D.C. He entered the Order of Preachers in 1991 and was ordained a priest in 1998. He studied at Wake Forest University (B.S., 1982), the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception (M.Div. and S.T.B., 1997; S.T.L, 1999) and the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Paris, (Ph.D., Section des sciences Religieuses, 2008).He has previously taught at Providence College in the Department of Theology and the Department of the Development of Western Civilization. From 2010 to 2018 he served as editor of the speculative review The Thomist and is a member of the Leonine Commission, a team of Dominican scholars responsible for the production of critical Latin editions of the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas. He is also currently preparing a critical Latin edition of the Commentary on John’s Gospel by one of St. Thomas’ Dominican contemporaries, William of Alton.
Why Does Aquinas Say that a Divine Person is a Subsistent Relation? | Fr. John Baptist Ku, O.P.
This lecture was given on November 10th, 2023, at the Dominican House of Studies.For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-eventsAbout the Speaker:Fr. John Baptist Ku, O.P. (Dominican House of Studies) was born in Manhattan (1965) and grew up in Fairfax, Virginia. After graduating from the University of Virginia, he worked at AT&T for five years before entering the Dominican Order in 1992. After serving for three years in St. Pius Parish in Providence, R.I., he completed his doctoral studies at the University of Fribourg in 2009. He now teaches at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C., where he has also served as book review editor of The Thomist (the faculty’s journal), chaplain to commuter students, and chaplain to the Immaculate Conception Chapter of Third Order Dominicans, and assistant student master. He served as student master and subprior at St. Dominic Priory from 2015-2018, and is currently the subprior.
The Virtuous Caritative Fruit of the Eucharist | Sr. Albert Marie Surmanski, O.P.
This lecture was given on November 18th, 2023, at the Dominican House of Studies.For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-eventsAbout the Speaker:Sr. Albert Marie Surmanski, O.P. (University of St. Thomas, Houston) is a member of the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist. She is an Associate Professor of Theology at the University of St. Thomas in Houston where she also teaches at St. Mary's Seminary. Her main area of research is medieval sacramental theology with a focus on Albert the Great and Aquinas. She has published a translation of Albert the Great's work On the Body of the Lord in the CUA Fathers of the Church Medieval Continuation series as well as a translation of Aquinas's Commentary on the Psalms for the Aquinas Institute. She has published articles in various journals including Logos, Antiphon, Nova et Vetera and Franciscan Studies.
The Ecclesial Fruit of the Eucharist | Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P.
This lecture was given on November 18th, 2023, at the Dominican House of Studies.For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-eventsAbout the Speaker:Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P. (Dominican House of Studies) is from Pennsylvania and graduated from Franciscan University of Steubenville. He previously served as the Assistant Director of Campus Outreach for the Thomistic Institute in Washington, DC, and associate pastor of St. Louis Bertrand Catholic Church in Louisville, KY where he also taught at Bellarmine University. He currently serves as an adjunct professor of dogmatic theology at the Dominican House of Studies and an Assistant Director of the Thomistic Institute. He is a contributor on the Pints with Aquinas show and a co-host of the Catholic Classics podcast.Fr. Gregory is the author of Prudence: Choose Confidently, Live Boldly (Our Sunday Visitor, 2022) and co-author with Matt Fradd of Marian Consecration With Aquinas: A Nine Day Path for Growing Closer to the Mother of God (TAN Books, 2020).

Science, Wonder, and the Existence of God w/ Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P. & Prof. Alexander Pruss
Join Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P. of Aquinas 101, Godsplaining, and Pints with Aquinas for an off-campus conversation with Prof. Alexander Pruss on science, wonder, and the existence of God.You can watch this interview on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/oclIhR50WZ4About the speaker:Alexander Pruss is professor of philosophy at Baylor University. He has two PhDs, one in mathematics and one in philosophy, and does research in metaphysics, philosophy of religion, ethics, epistemology, philosophy of science and philosophy of mathematics. Much of his work is centered on showing how pretty much everything in reality points to the existence of God. His books include The Principle of Sufficient Reason, Infinity, Paradox, and Causation, and One Body: An Essay in Christian Sexual Ethics. In his spare time, Pruss engages in a variety of hobbies including electronics, software development, and indoor rock climbing where he recently got two Guinness World Records.
The Sacramental Setting of the Eucharist | Sr. Albert Marie Surmanski, O.P.
This lecture was given on November 18th, 2023, at the Dominican House of Studies.For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-eventsAbout the Speaker:Sr. Albert Marie Surmanski, O.P. (University of St. Thomas, Houston) is a member of the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist. She is an Associate Professor of Theology at the University of St. Thomas in Houston where she also teaches at St. Mary's Seminary. Her main area of research is medieval sacramental theology with a focus on Albert the Great and Aquinas. She has published a translation of Albert the Great's work On the Body of the Lord in the CUA Fathers of the Church Medieval Continuation series as well as a translation of Aquinas's Commentary on the Psalms for the Aquinas Institute. She has published articles in various journals including Logos, Antiphon, Nova et Vetera and Franciscan Studies.
The Christological Setting of the Eucharist | Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P.
This lecture was given on November 17th, 2023, at the Dominican House of Studies.For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-eventsAbout the Speaker:Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P. (Dominican House of Studies) is from Pennsylvania and graduated from Franciscan University of Steubenville. He previously served as the Assistant Director of Campus Outreach for the Thomistic Institute in Washington, DC, and associate pastor of St. Louis Bertrand Catholic Church in Louisville, KY where he also taught at Bellarmine University. He currently serves as an adjunct professor of dogmatic theology at the Dominican House of Studies and an Assistant Director of the Thomistic Institute. He is a contributor on the Pints with Aquinas show and a co-host of the Catholic Classics podcast.Fr. Gregory is the author of Prudence: Choose Confidently, Live Boldly (Our Sunday Visitor, 2022) and co-author with Matt Fradd of Marian Consecration With Aquinas: A Nine Day Path for Growing Closer to the Mother of God (TAN Books, 2020).
Mariology 101 - Part 2 | Fr. James Brent, O.P.
This lecture was given on December 8th, 2024, at an Intellectual Retreat at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C.About the speaker:Fr. James Dominic Brent is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Chaplain to Commuter Students at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington DC. He has articles in the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy on Natural Theology, in the Oxford Handbook of Thomas Aquinas on “God’s Knowledge and Will”, and an article forthcoming on “Thomas Aquinas” in the Oxford Handbook of the Epistemology of Theology.
Mariology 101 - Part 1 | Fr. James Brent, O.P.
This lecture was given on December 8th, 2024, at an Intellectual Retreat at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C.About the speaker:Fr. James Dominic Brent is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Chaplain to Commuter Students at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington DC. He has articles in the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy on Natural Theology, in the Oxford Handbook of Thomas Aquinas on “God’s Knowledge and Will”, and an article forthcoming on “Thomas Aquinas” in the Oxford Handbook of the Epistemology of Theology.
The Effects of Grace, Justification & Sanctification | Fr. Dominic Legge, O.P.
This lecture was given on December 16th, 2023, at the Dominican House of Studies.For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-eventsAbout the Speaker:Fr. Dominic Legge, O.P. (Thomistic Institute) is the Director of the Thomistic Institute and Associate Professor in Systematic Theology at the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. He holds a J.D. from Yale Law School, a Ph.L. from the School of Philosophy of the Catholic University of America, and a doctorate in Sacred Theology from the University of Fribourg in Switzerland. He entered the Order of Preachers in 2001, after having practiced constitutional law for several years as a trial attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice. He has also taught at The Catholic University of America Law School and at Providence College. He is the author of The Trinitarian Christology of St. Thomas Aquinas (Oxford University Press, 2016).
'Types' of Grace | Fr. Dominic Legge, O.P.
This lecture was given on December 16th, 2023, at the Dominican House of Studies.For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-eventsAbout the Speaker:Fr. Dominic Legge, O.P. (Thomistic Institute) is the Director of the Thomistic Institute and Associate Professor in Systematic Theology at the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. He holds a J.D. from Yale Law School, a Ph.L. from the School of Philosophy of the Catholic University of America, and a doctorate in Sacred Theology from the University of Fribourg in Switzerland. He entered the Order of Preachers in 2001, after having practiced constitutional law for several years as a trial attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice. He has also taught at The Catholic University of America Law School and at Providence College. He is the author of The Trinitarian Christology of St. Thomas Aquinas (Oxford University Press, 2016).