Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas

History

The Angelicum has its roots in the Dominican mission to study and to teach truth. This mission is reflected in the order's motto, "Veritas". The distinctively pedagogical character of the Dominican apostolate as intended by Saint Dominic de Guzman in 1214 at the birth of the order, "the first order instituted by the Church with an academic mission", is succinctly expressed by another of the Order's mottos, contemplare et contemplata aliis tradere, (to contemplate and to bear the fruits of contemplation to others). Pope Honorius III approved the Order of Preachers in December 1216 and January 1217. On 21 January 1217 the papal bull Gratiarum omnium confirmed the Order's pedagogical mission by granting its members the right to preach universally, a power formerly dependent on local episcopal authorization.

Medieval origin (1222): the Santa Sabina studium conventuale

Saint Dominic established priories focused on study and preaching that became the Order's first studia generalia, at the Parisian convent of St. Jacques in 1217, at Bologna in 1218, at Palencia and Montpellier in 1220, and at Oxford before his death in 1221. By 1219 Pope Honorius III had invited Dominic and companions to take up residence at the ancient Roman basilica of Santa Sabina, which they did by early 1220. In May 1220 at Bologna the Order's first General Chapter mandated that each convent of the Order maintain a studium. The official foundation of the Dominican studium conventuale at Rome, which would grow into the Angelicum, occurred with the legal transfer of the Santa Sabina complex from Pope Honorius III to the Order of Preachers on 5 June 1222.

St. Hyacinth of Poland and companions Bl. Ceslaus, Herman of Germany, and Henry of Moravia were among the first to study at the studium of Santa Sabina where "sacred studies flourished".

From its beginning the Santa Sabina studium played the special role of frequently providing papal theologians from among its members. Since its institution in 1218 the office of Master of the Sacred Palace has always been entrusted to a Friar of the Order of Preachers. In 1218 Saint Dominic was appointed as the first Master of the Sacred Palace by Pope Honorius III. In 1246 Pope Innocent IV appointed Annibaldo degli Annibaldi (c. 1220 – 1272) third Master of the Sacred Palace after Saint Dominic and Bartolomeo di Breganze. Annibaldi had completed his initial studies at the Santa Sabina studium conventuale and was later sent to the studium generale at Paris. Aquinas dedicated to Annibaldi the Catena aurea, which he wrote during his regency at the Santa Sabina studium beginning in 1265.

1265: studium provinciale

At the general chapter of Valenciennes in 1259 Thomas Aquinas together with masters Bonushomo Britto, Florentius, Albert, and Peter took part in establishing a program of studies for novices and lectors including two years of philosophy, two years of fundamental theology, church history and canon law, and four years of theology. Those who showed capacity were sent on to a studium generale to complete this course becoming lector, magister studentium, baccalaureus, and magister theologiae.

The new formation program outlined at Valenciennes featured the study of philosophy as an innovation. "In the early days there was no need to study philosophy or the arts in the Order; young men entered already trained in the humanities at the university. St. Albert received his arts training at Padua, St. Thomas at Naples; they were prepared to study theology. By 1259, however, it became evident that youths entering the Order were not sufficiently trained; the new ratio studiorum of 1259 established studia philosophiae in certain provinces corresponding to the university faculty of arts."

In February 1265 newly elected Pope Clement IV summoned Aquinas to Rome as papal theologian. That same year in accord with the injunction of the Chapter of the Roman province at Anagni, Aquinas was assigned as regent master at the studium at Santa Sabina: We assign Friar Thomas of Aquino to Rome, for the remission of his sins, there to take over the direction of studies.

With this assignment the studium at Santa Sabina, which had been founded in 1222, was transformed into the Order's first studium provinciale with courses under Aquinas' direction beginning 8 September 1265 and featuring studia philosophiae as prescribed by Aquinas and others at the 1259 chapter of Valenciennes.

This studium was an intermediate school between the studium conventuale and the studium generale. "Prior to this time the Roman Province had offered no specialized education of any sort, no arts, no philosophy; only simple convent schools, with their basic courses in theology for resident friars, were functioning in Tuscany and the meridionale during the first several decades of the order's life. But the new studium at Santa Sabina was to be a school for the province," a studium provinciale. Tolomeo da Lucca, associate and early biographer of Aquinas, tells us that at Santa Sabina Aquinas taught the full range of philosophical subjects, "teaching in a new and special way almost the whole of philosophy, both moral and natural, but especially ethical and mathematical, as well as in writing and commentary."

1288: studium particularis theologiae, 1291 studium nove logice, 1305 studium naturarum

After the departure of Aquinas for Paris in 1268 other lectors at the Santa Sabina studium include Hugh Aycelin. Eventually some of the pedagogical activities of the Santa Sabina studium were transferred to a new convent of the Order more centrally located at the Church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva. This convent had a modest beginning in 1255 as a community for women converts, but grew rapidly in size and importance during its transfer to the Dominicans from 1265 to 1275. In 1288 the theology component of the provincial curriculum was relocated from the Santa Sabina studium provinciale to the studium conventuale at Santa Maria sopra Minerva which was redesignated as a studium particularis theologiae. During this period lectors at the Santa Maria sopra Minerva studium included Niccolò da Prato, Bartolomeo da San Concordio, and Matteo Orsini.

Following the curriculum of studies laid out in the capitular acts of 1291 the Santa Sabina studium was redesignated as one of three studia nove logice intended to offer courses of advanced logic covering the logica nova, the Aristotelian texts recovered in the West only in the second half of the 12th century, the Topics, Sophistical Refutations, and the First and Second Analytics of Aristotle. This was an advance over the logica antiqua, which treated the Isagoge of Porphyry, Divisions and Topics of Boethius, the Categories and On Interpretation of Aristotle, and the Summule logicales of Peter of Spain. In 1305 the Minerva studium became one of four studia naturarum established in the Roman province. Iacopo Passavanti, famed preacher and author of the Specchio di vera penitenza, was lector at the studium at Santa Maria sopra Minerva after finishing his studies in Paris c. 1333.

1426: studium generale

The General Chapter of 1304 mandated each of the Order's provinces establish a studium generale to meet the demand of the Order's rapidly growing membership. The studium at Santa Maria sopra Minerva was raised to the level of studium generale for the Roman province of the Order by the year 1426 and continued in this roll until 1539. It would again be affirmed as a studium generale in 1694 (see below).

On 7 March 1457, the feast of St. Thomas, humanist Lorenzo Valla delivered the annual encomium in honor of the "angelic doctor." The Dominicans of the Minerva studium generale pressed Valla not only to praise Aquinas but to voice his humanist criticism of scholastic thomism.

Sisto Fabri served as professor of theology at the Santa Maria sopra Minerva studium in the mid-1550s. In 1585 Fabri, who was Master of the Order of Preachers from 1583 to 1598 would undertake a reformation of the program of studies for the Order and for the studium which had been transformed into the College of St. Thomas in 1577. Fabri's reform included a nine-year formation program consisting of two years of logic using the Summulae logicales of Peter of Spain alongside Aristotle's logic, three years of philosophy including the study of Aristotle's De anima, Physica, and Metaphysica, and four years of theology using the third part of Aquinas' Summa for speculative theology, and the second part for moral theology. Fabri also established a professorship for the study of Hebrew at the college.

In 1570 the first edition of Aquinas' opera omnia, the so-called editio piana from Pius V the Dominican Pope who commissioned it, was produced there.

Modern history (1577): Collegium Divi Thomae

The late sixteenth century saw the studium at Santa Maria sopra Minerva undergo further transformation during the pontificate of Pope Gregory XIII. Aquinas, who had been canonized in 1323 by Pope John XXII, was proclaimed fifth Latin Doctor of the Church by Pius V in 1567. To honor this great doctor, in 1577 Juan Solano, former bishop of Cusco, Peru, generously funded the reorganization of the studium at the convent of the Minerva on the model of the College of St. Gregory at Valladolid in his native Spain. The features of this Spanish model included a fixed number of Dominican students admitted on the basis of intellectual merit, dedicated exclusively to study in virtue of numerous dispensations from other duties, and governed by an elected Rector.

The result of Solano's initiative, which underwent further structural change shortly before Solano's death in 1580, was the Collegium Divi Thomae or College of St. Thomas. At the Minerva, the college occupied several existing convent structures as well as new constructions. A detail from the Nolli Map of 1748 gives some idea of the disposition of buildings when the Minerva convent housed the college.

The college cultivated the doctrines of St. Thomas Aquinas as a means of carrying out the Church's mission in the New World, where Solano had shown "much zeal in defending the rights of the Indians", and where Dominicans like Bartolomé de las Casas, "Protector of the Indians", Pedro de Cordova, critic of the Encomienda system, and Francisco de Vitoria, theorist of international law, were already engaged.

At the beginning of the seventeenth century several regents of the College of St. Thomas were involved in controversies over the nature of divine grace. Diego Alvarez (1550 c.-1635), author of the De auxiliis divinae gratiae et humani arbitrii viribus and famous apologist for the Thomistic doctrines of grace and predestination, was professor of theology at the college from 1596 to 1606. Tomas de Lemos (Ribadavia 1540 – Rome 1629). was professor of theology at the college in 1610. In the Molinist controversy between Dominicans and Jesuits the papal commission or Congregatio de Auxiliis summoned Lemos and Diego Alvarez to represent the Dominican Order in debates before Pope Clement VIII and Pope Paul V. Lemos was editor of the Acta omnium congregationum ac disputationum, etc. and author of the much discussed Panoplia gratiae (1676). In 1608 Juan Gonzalez de Albelda, author of the Commentariorum & disputationum in primam partem Summa S. Thome de Aquino (1621) was regent of studies at the college. In the 1620s Juan Gonzales de Leon was regent Concerning the dispute on the nature of divine grace he took up an alternative doctrine within the Thomist school, that of Juan Gonzalez d'Albeda regent at the college in 1608, that "sufficient grace not only prepares the will for a perfect act [of contrition], but also gives the will an impulse towards that act. Yet due to man's defectability that impulse is always resisted."

1906: Pontificium Collegium Divi Thomae de Urbe

In response to the call for a renewal of Thomism sounded by Aeterni Patris rectors Tommaso Maria Zigliara (1833–1893), Alberto Lepidi (1838–1922), and Sadoc Szabó had brought the college to a high degree of excellence. Under the leadership of Szabó the number of subjects taught at the Angelicum included archeology, geology, paleography, Christian art, biology, mathematics, physics, and astronomy.

At the dawn of the twentieth century the Dominican conception of intellectual formation at Rome was again transformed. The general chapters of 1895 (Avila) and 1901 (Ghent) had called for the expansion of the College of St. Thomas to meet the growing educational needs in the modern world. The Chapter of 1904 (Viterbo) directed Hyacinthe-Marie Cormier (1832–1916), newly elected Master General of the Order of Preachers, to develop the college into a studium generalissimum directly under his authority for the entire Dominican Order:Romae erigatur collegium studiorum Ordinis generalissimum, auctoritate magistri generalis immediate subjectum, in quo floreat vita regularis, et ad quod mittantur fratres ex omnibus provinciis. Building on the legacy of the Order's first Roman studium at the priory of Santa Sabina founded in 1222 and the studium general that had sprung from it by 1426 at Santa Maria sopra Minerva and that in 1577 became the College of Saint Thomas, Cormier stated his intention to establish this new studium generalissimum as the principal vehicle of dissemination of orthodox Thomistic thought for both Dominicans and secular clergy.

In 1904 Pope Pius X allowed diocesan seminarians to attend the college. He elevated the college to the status of Pontificium on 2 May 1906, making its degrees equivalent to those of the world's other pontifical universities. By Apostolic Letter of 8 November 1908, signed on 17 November, the Pope transformed the college into the Collegium Pontificium Internationale Angelicum, located on Via San Vitale 15. Cormier developed the Angelicum until his death in 1916, establishing it principal guidelines, giving it his motto as Master General, caritas veritatis, "the charity of truth." Cormier, also noted for the spiritual quality of his retreats and powerful preaching, was declared Blessed by Pope John Paul II on 20 November 1994.

In the first half of the twentieth century Angelicum professors Édouard Hugon, Réginald Garrigou-Lagrange and others carried on Leo's call for a Thomist revival. The core philosophical commitments of the revival, which after Zigliara traditionally are those of the Angelicum, were later summarized in "Twenty-Four Thomistic Theses" approved by Pope Pius X. Due to its rejection of attempts to synthesize Thomism with non-Thomistic categories and assumptions neo-scholastic Thomism has sometimes been called "Strict Observance Thomism."

1963: Pontificia Studiorum Universitas a Sancto Thoma Aquinate in Urbe

Enrollment climbed from 120 in 1909 to over 1,000 during the 1960s. During the tenure of Aniceto Fernández as Master of the Order of Preachers (1962–1974) and the rectorate of Raymond Sigmond (1961–1964) Pope John XXIII visited the Angelicum on 7 March 1963, the feast of the university's patron Saint Thomas Aquinas and with the motu proprio Dominicanus Ordo, raised the Angelicum to the rank of pontifical university. Thereafter it would be known as the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas in the city (Latin: Pontificia Studiorum Universitas a Sancto Thoma Aquinate in Urbe).

On 29 November 1963, Egyptian scholar and peritus at Vatican II for Christian–Islamic relations Georges Anawati delivered a lecture entitled at the Angelicum "L'Islam a l'heure du Concile: prolegomenes a un dialogue islamo-chretien."

On 19 April 1974 Pope Paul VI delivered an allocution in the Angelicum's Aula Magna as part of the International Congress of the International Society of St. Thomas Aquinas celebrated on the occasion of the seventh centenary of the death of the Doctor Angelicus. The Pontif described Aquinas as a teacher of the art of thinking well and expounded his doctrine proposing Aquinas as an unsurpassed master.

On 17 November 1979, one year into his papacy, Pope John Paul II visited his alma mater to deliver an address marking the first centenary of the encyclical Aeterni Patris. The Pontiff reaffirmed the centrality of Aquinas' thought for the Church and the unique role of the Angelicum, where Aquinas is "as in his own home (tamquam in domo sua)," in carrying on the Thomist philosophical and theological tradition.

On 24 November 1994, four days after beatifying Hyacinthe-Marie Cormier, Pope John Paul II visited the Angelicum and gave an address to faculty and students on the occasion of the dedication of the university's Aula Magna in his honor.

On 18 May 2020, the 100th anniversary of the birth of Pope John Paul II the St. John Paul II Institute of Culture was established within the Faculty of Philosophy. The institute was founded thanks to the support of private donors. It carries out several research, academic, educational and cultural projects to deepen knowledge of the intellectual and spiritual heritage of the pope and foster understanding of key problems facing the Church and the world today, in the light of his teaching. The institute offers the JP2 Studies program – a one-year, interdisciplinary diploma for clergy, religious and laity. The professors teaching at the JP2 Studies program are, i.e.: Helen Alford, O.P., George Weigel, Jarosław Kupczak, O.P., Rémi Brague.

The Angelicum today

Today the faculty and students of the Angelicum strive to be "modern disciples of Thomas Aquinas", "accepting all the radical changes" of the modern world "but without compromise" to the ideals of their patron Thomas Aquinas. Angelicum alumnus and famed historian and philosopher James A. Weisheipl notes that since the time of Aquinas "Thomism was always alive in the Dominican Order, small as it was after the ravages of the Reformation, the French Revolution, and the Napoleonic occupation." While outside the order Thomism has had varying fortunes, the Angelicum has played a central role throughout its history in preserving Thomism since the time of Aquinas' own activity at the Santa Sabina studium provinciale. Today the sedes Thomae continues to provide students and scholars with the opportunity to immerse themselves in the authentic Dominican Thomistic philosophical and theological tradition.

As of August 2014 the student body comprised approximately 1010 students coming from 95 countries. About one half of the Angelicum's students are enrolled in the faculty of theology.

As of August 2014 the student body consisted of approximately 29% women, 71% men. Of these, approximately 24% were lay, 27% were diocesan clerical, and 49% were members of religious orders. Moreover, 30% of the student body hailed from North America, 25% from Europe, 21% from Asia, 12% from Africa, 11% from Latin America, and 1% from Oceania.

Some comparatively recent notable figures associated with the Angelicum include Cornelio Fabro, Jordan Aumann, Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, Aidan Nichols, Wojciech Giertych, Theologian of the Pontifical Household under Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis, and Bishop Charles Morerod, past Rector Magnificus of the Angelicum and former Secretary of the International Theological Commission, Alejandro Crosthwaite, OP, Dean of the Angelicum Faculty of Social Sciences, and Consultant to the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, and Robert Christian, Vice-Dean of the faculty of theology, professor of sacramental theology and ecclesiology, and Consultant to the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. Dr. Donna Orsuto, professor of spirituality, is rector of the Lay Centre at Foyer Unitas and was recently created a Dame of the Order of St. Gregory the Great by Pope Benedict.

Academics

Quality and ranking

The Angelicum is one of the world's Pontifical universities. Specifically, a pontifical university addresses "Christian revelation and disciplines correlative to the evangelical mission of the Church as set out in the apostolic constitution, Sapientia christiana".

In distinction to secular or other Catholic universities, which address a broad range of disciplines, Ecclesiastical or Pontifical universities are "usually composed of three principal ecclesiastical faculties, theology, philosophy, and canon law, and at least one other faculty". Current international quality ranking services do not have rankings for pontifical universities that are specific to their curricula.

Since 19 September 2003 the Holy See has taken part in the Bologna Process, a series of meetings and agreements between European states designed to foster comparable quality standards in higher education, and in the "Bologna Follow-up Group".

The Holy See's Agency for the Evaluation and Promotion of Quality in Ecclesiastical Universities and Faculties (AVEPRO) was established on 19 September 2007 by the Pope Benedict XVI "to promote and develop a culture of quality within the academic institutions that depend directly on the Holy See and ensure they possess internationally valid quality criteria."

Academic authorities

Grand Chancellor, the Master General of the Order of Preachers. On 13 July 2019, Fr. Gerard Francisco Timoner III was elected the 88th Master General of the Order of Preachers at the 291st General Chapter, held in Biên Hòa.

Rector Magnificus. Thomas Joseph White was appointed rector on 10 June 2021. He is the first American to serve in this office.

Vice-Rector

Deans of the Faculties

Heads of the Institutes

Administrator

Secretary General

Public Relations Officer

Prefect of the Library

University Chaplain

Faculties and degrees

In addition to the programs listed, which are in the Italian language, the Angelicum offers English programs in Philosophy and Theology for the first cycle, and part of the second and third cycles.

Theology

First Cycle: Baccalaureate in Sacred Theology, Sacrae Theologiae Baccalaureatus (S.T.B.)

Second Cycle: Licentiate in Sacred Theology, Sacrae Theologiae Licentiatus (S.T.L.)

Third Cycle: Doctorate in Sacred Theology, Sacrae Theologiae Doctoratus (S.T.D.)

Sections:

Biblical

Dogmatic

Moral

Thomistic

Spirituality

Ecumenism: The Angelicum is the only Pontifical university in Rome granted the right to offer advanced theology degrees in ecumenism. The Angelicum offers the licentiate degree in theology with a specialization in ecumenical studies.

Chairs of Learning:

The J.-M. Tillard Chair of Ecumenical Studies: The Tillard Chair was dedicated 25 February 2003 in honor of Dominican Jean-Marie Tillard, one of the greatest exponents of post-conciliar ecumenical movement. Tillard studied philosophy at the Angelicum from 1952 to 1953 obtaining the doctorate degree with a thesis entitled Le bonheur selon la conception de saint Thomas d'Aquin. At Vatican II, Tillard served as a "peritus" for the Canadian bishops, and subsequently became a consultant to the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.

The Non-Conventional Religions and Spiritualities Chair (RSNC) which promotes the study of modern and contemporary religious phenomena

Aggregated institutions

Sacred Heart Major Seminary, Detroit (USA)

Affiliated institutions

Blackfriars Studium, Oxford (England)

Collegio Alberoni, Piacenza (Italy)

St. Charles Seminary, Nagpur (India)

St. Mary's Priory, Dominican House of Studies, Tallaght (Ireland)

St. Saviour’s Priory, Dublin (Ireland), Dominican House of Studies – Studium, since 2000.

St. Joseph's Seminary (Dunwoodie), New York (USA)

Istituto Teologico De America Central Intercongregacional, S. Jose (Costa Rica)

Sacred Heart Institute, Gozo (Malta)

Dominican Institute, Ibadan (Nigeria)

Centro de Estudio de los Dominicanos del Caribe, Bayamon (Puerto Rico)

Studio Filosofico Domenicano, Bologna (Italy) (in Italian)

Escola Dominicana de Teologia, Alto do Ipiranga, São Paulo (Brazil) (in Portuguese)

Centro de Teologia Santo Domingo de Guzman, St. Domingo (Dominican Republic)

Saint John Seminary, Boston, MA (USA)

Sponsored institutes

The Institute of Spirituality

St. John Paul II Institute of Culture

Istituto Superiore di Scienze Religiose Mater Ecclesiae

Istituto San Tommaso

Superior Institute of Religious Sciences of St. Thomas Aquinas, Kyiv (Ukraine)

Associated institutions

Higher Institute for Communication and Public Opinion, Rome (Italy)

Institut Marie-Dominique Chenu, Berlin (Germany)

Related programs

Science, Theology and the Ontological Quest

Bridge Builder Project

Center for Catholic Studies, University of St. Thomas (Minnesota)

Religions and Non-conventional Spiritualities Chair (RNCS)

Ethical Leadership International Program

Management and Corporate Social Responsibility (in Italian)

Management of the Organizations of the Third Sector (in Italian)

The John Paul II Center for Interreligious Dialogue, a partnership between The Russell Berrie Foundation and the Angelicum, aims to build bridges between diverse religious traditions. The Center features top-level visiting faculty teaching interreligious dialogue courses, and the prestigious John Paul II Lecture on Interreligious Understanding.

Scholarships

The Russell Berrie Fellowship in Interreligious Studies targets members of the laity and clergy for the purpose of studying at the Angelicum to obtain License or Doctoral Degrees in Theology with a concentration in Inter-religious Studies. The goal of the Fellowship Program is to build bridges between Christian, Jewish, and other religious traditions by providing the next generation of religious leaders with a comprehensive understanding of and dedication to interfaith issues. The award will provide one year of financial support the Russell Berrie Foundation, which carries on the values and passions of the late Russell Berrie, by promoting the continuity of the Jewish tradition, and fostering religious understanding and pluralism. Financial support is intended to cover tuition, a living stipend, examination fees, a book allowance, and travel expenses to and from the recipient's home country once a year.

The William E. Simon Scholarship Fund provides financial assistance for academically qualified students who live in Rome and who would otherwise lack the resources to cover their educational expenses at the Angelicum. Each scholarship award provides no more than 40% of the total annual expense of tuition, room, board, and related fees and expenses. Annually the fund allocates 50% of its scholarships for lay students.

International Dominican Foundation (IDF) is a non-profit organization that provides monetary support to Dominican educational programs at the Jerusalem École Biblique, the Angelicum in Rome, and the Dominican Institute for Oriental Studies (IDEO)in Cairo. The IDF made grants of approximately $270,000.00 for the academic year 2011–2012, the major part of which went the Angelicum in accord with the William E. Simon Scholarship, the McCadden-McQuirk Foundation, and the Réginald de Rocquois Foundation.

United States Federal Loan Program

The Angelicum is listed under schools in Rome that can participate in the US Federal Loan Program.

Academic calendar

The regular academic year at the Angelicum runs from early October until the end of May. Some of the university's important annual events are as follows:

October Solemn Inauguration of the Academic Year and Mass of the Holy Spirit

22 October Solemnity of the Dedication of the Church of Saints Dominic and Sixtus

15 November Feast of Saint Albert the Great.

7 March Feast of the university's patron Saint Thomas Aquinas

21 May Solemn Mass for the Ending of the Academic Year and Conferral of academic degrees. Dominican feast of Bl. Hyacinthe-Marie Cormier

June A summer session runs for the month of June.

Generally administration offices remain open until the end of July, are closed for the month of August, and reopen in early September.

Angelicum campus

The Angelicum campus is located in the historic center of Rome, Italy, on the Quirinal Hill in the section or rione of the eternal city known as Monti. It is situated near the beginning of via Nazionale just above the ruins of Trajan's Market, the via dei Fori Imperiali, and Piazza Venezia.

Site

The site of the Angelicum is recorded in history sometime before the year 1000 bearing the name Magnanapoli with a church dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. The nature of the site before the ninth century is uncertain. One theory holds that its name Magnanapoli derives from the expression Bannum Nea Polis or "fort of the new city" from the adjacent Byzantine military citadel which included the Torre delle Milizie Rome's oldest extant tower.

Architectonic features

In 1569 Dominican Pope Pius V ordered the construction of the Church of Saints Dominic and Sixtus. This was followed in 1575 by a convent for Dominican nuns. Among the architects who worked on the complex are Vignola; Giacomo della Porta; Nicola and Orazio Torriani; and Vincenzo della Greca. The church's double staircase was added in 1654 by sculptor architect Orazio Torriani.

In 1870 the religious community was expropriated by the Italian government. The Order was able to reacquire the complex in 1927 from the Italian government. After extensive renovation and additions the Angelicum and a convent of Dominican Friars was installed there. Today the university occupies approximately the entire ground level of the complex. The remaining portion, approximately the second and third levels around the cloister together with subterranean spaces, constitutes a convent for the community of Dominican Friars that serves the university.

The main entrance of the Angelicum immediately to the right of the Church of Saints Dominic and Sixtus was built into the existing structure in the early 1930s as part of the renovations undertaken to accommodate the Angelicum at its new site. A wide flight of stairs leads to a Palladian motif portico above which are mounted a Dominican shield bearing one of the Order's mottos "laudare, benedicere, praedicare" (to praise, bless, and preach) on the right, and the escutcheons of Pope Pius XI who was reigning when the Pontificium Institutum Internationale Angelicum opened its doors in 1932, on the left. The main entrance of the Angelicum was used in 2010 as a location in the film "Manuale d'amore 3". part of a 4 movie romantic comedy, directed by Giovanni Veronesi and starring Robert De Niro, and Monica Bellucci who were on campus shooting the film.

Under the entrance portico are two statues c. 1910 by sculptor Cesare Aureli (1843–1923) of St Albert the Great on the left and St. Thomas Aquinas on the right. The base of the statue of Aquinas bears an inscription attributed to Pope Pius XI, "Sanctus Thomas Doctor angelicus hic tamquam domi suae habitat," (Saint Thomas the Angelic Doctor dwells here as in his own house), a paraphrase of the papal encyclical Studiorum ducem that singles out the Angelicum as the preeminent Thomistic center of learning: "ante omnia Pontificium Collegium Angelicum, ubi Thomam tamquam domi suae habitare dixeris".

The Angelicum's statue of Aquinas is Aureli's second version of this work. The first version of 1889 looms majestically over the Sala di Consultazione or main reference room of the Vatican Library. At the instigation of the Pontifical Roman Seminary the Vatican version of the statue was commissioned in the name of all seminaries of the world as a gift to Pope Leo XIII in celebration of his episcopal jubilee in 1893. The statue has been described in the following terms:St. Thomas seated, in his left arm holds the Summa theologica while extending his right arm in the act of protecting Christian science. Thus, he does not sit on the cathedra of a doctor but on the throne of a sovereign protector; he extends his arm to reassure, not to demonstrate. He wears on his head the doctoral birettum of the traditional type which reveals the face and expression of a profoundly educated person.... The immortal book that he clutches, the powerful arm that extends to affirm sacred science and to halt the audacity of error, are truly grand, and in the words of Leo XIII, have equaled the genius of all other great teachers.

The Angelicum cloister

A central cloister with garden and fountain forms the heart of campus. The two basins of the ancient fountain are fed by the Acqua Felice aqueduct, one of the aqueducts of Rome, and the first new aqueduct of early modern Rome, completed in 1585 by Pope Sixtus V whose birth name was Felice Peretti. It also feeds the fountain by Giovanni Battista Soria (c. 1630) at the entrance to the Angelicum's walled garden, and the fountain under the stair below the university's portineria or porter's lodge before coursing across the Quirinal Hill to its terminus at the Moses fountain or Fontana dell'Acqua Felice on the Via del Quirinale.

Arched porticos designed by Vignola but completed after his death flank the cloister. Ten arches on the long sides and seven on the short are sustained by pilasters in the Tuscan style rising from high plinths. A simple frieze with smooth triglyphs and metopes separates lower from upper levels.

Eleven classrooms encircle the cloister, the last of which, the Aula della Sapienza (Hall of Wisdom) is the site of the university's doctoral defenses. Also located off the cloister are the administration offices and the Sala delle Colonne, a reception room with antique marble columns and arched ceilings bearing traces of late Renaissance style frescos, which initially housed a library.

On the second level encircling the cloister are the living quarters of Dominican professors and the Sala del Senato (Academic Senate Room). The latter was the Chapter room of the convent and is appointed with a 14th-century triptych of Saint Andrew by Lippo Vanni, a 13th-century crucifix, and a full-body relic of an unidentified saint encased in Imperial Roman armor.

The Angelicum auditoria

To the east of the Sala delle Colonne is the Aula Magna Giovanni Paolo II, a raked semicircular auditorium with seating for 1100 people that was constructed during 1930s renovations by Roman engineer Vincenzo Passarelli (1904–1985). The Aula Magna was recently renamed after one of the Angelicum's most illustrious alumni, Pope John Paul II. The adjacent Aula Minor San Raimondo seats 350 people. Beyond these auditoria are the university's cafe, the Angelicum Bookshop, and the university's library.

The Angelicum administration building

The Palazzo dei Decanati (Deans' Building) is located at the West edge of campus just inside the main gates. The West boundary of the Angelicum is formed by the Salita del Grillo.

The Angelicum library

The main part of the Angelicum library consists of that part of the textual patrimony of the Angelicum not expropriated by the Italian government with the Biblioteca Casanatense in 1870. At the convent of Saints Sixtus and Dominic the library originally housed 40,000 volumes in the Sala delle Colonne. As the library grew space was found under the Aula Magna for a library whose large windows face out to the palm trees of the Angelicum walled garden. The collection that remains at the college today consists of approximately 400 000 volumes, about 6 000 manuscripts, 2 200 incunabula including 64 Greek codices, and 230 Hebrew texts including 5 Samaritan codices is open to the scholarly community.

Among the library's treasures is included the original copy of the doctoral thesis Doctrina de fide apud S. Ioannem a Cruce (The Doctrine of Faith in St. John of the Cross) written by the future Pope John Paul II, Karol Józef Wojtyła, under the direction of Réginald Garrigou-Lagrange and defended on 19 June 1948

The Angelicum garden

On the south side of campus the walled garden is bordered by private properties. At the garden entrance stands a fountain by Giovanni Battista Soria built circa 1630. The garden is planted with trees of many kinds: orange, lemon, pistachio, olive, fig, palm and laurel, as well as with grape vines, and is an oasis of calm and silence, a figure of paradise in the midst of the bustling eternal city. In 1946 in this garden the young student Karol Wojtyla, future Pope John Paul II, would stroll and visit daily what he called the "miraculous tree", an ancient olive from which springs incredibly the branches of a palm, a fig, and a laurel.

The University Church, Chapel, and Choir

Along the north side of campus are found the university's Church of Saints Dominic and Sixtus, the Blessed Sacrament Chapel, and the Choir. The church has been the subject of numerous works of art. In the 18th century Antonio Canaletto made a pen and ink study with grey wash and black chalk, today in the collection of the British Museum, described as depicting "the Church of SS Domenico e Sisto, Rome; with a sweeping double staircase to the entrance, in the foreground a man bowing to two approaching ladies". Italian born American painter John Singer Sargent during his extensive travels in Italy made an oil painting of the exterior staircase and balustrade of the campus's Church of Saints Dominic and Sixtus in 1906. Sargent described the ensemble as "a magnificent curved staircase and balustrade, leading to a grand façade that would reduce a millionaire to a worm". The painting now hangs at the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford University. Sargent used the architectural features from this painting later in a portrait of Charles William Eliot, President of Harvard University from 1869 to 1909. Sargent made several preliminary pencil sketches of the balustrade and staircase, which are in the collection of the Harvard University art collection of the Fogg Museum. The Church as also been depicted by Ettore Roesler Franz and Eero Saarinen. The Church and stair also feature in the 1950 film Prima comunione by director Alessandro Blasetti, which is on the list of the 100 Italian films to save.

Surrounding area

The northern flank of campus borders via Panisperna across from the perimeter wall of the Roman Villa Aldobrandini, a 17th-century princely villa whose gardens were truncated by the construction of Via Nazionale in the 19th century, and which today houses the headquarters of the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT). Behind the campus intersecting with Via Nazionale is the "Via Mazzarino", named after Michele Mazzarino professor of theology at the college after 1628 who was appointed Master of the Sacred Palace under Pope Urban VIII in 1642, and Archbishop of Aix-en-Provence in 1645 by Pope Innocent X. Mazzarino's brother Giulio Mazzarino, known as "Jules Mazarin" was chief minister of France under Louis XIV. The East edge of campus is bound by Salita del Grillo beyond which is the Markets and Forum of Trajan.

General information

Angelicum traditions and annual events

Inauguration of the Academic Year takes place in October with a solemn "Mass of the Holy Spirit" and the conferral of academic degrees (see "Angelicum regalia" below).

Inaugural Lecture. In early November a "prolusione" or formal address is given by an invited speaker to mark the inauguration of the academic year:

2009 Wojciech Giertych, Theologian of the Pontifical Household, "Why There Are So Few Thomist Saints?"

2008 Francesco Coccopalmerio, President of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, "La natura dell'attività' del Legislatore nella Chiesa"

1953 Alcide De Gasperi, Founder Christian Democratic Party, Italian Prime Minister 1945–1953, European Union founding member. "The International Workers Movement and a United Europe".

1948 Giulio Andreotti, member of provisional parliament tasked with writing the new Italian constitution, and future Prime Minister of Italy (1972–73; 1976–79; 1989–92), "The Intellectual Mission of Italy and of a United Europe".

1928 Réginald Marie Garrigou-Lagrange, theologian.

Encomium of St. Thomas Aquinas, Angelicum patron: Traditionally on 7 March, the pre Vatican II feast day and death anniversary of St. Thomas Aquinas a high Solemn Mass is offered, followed by an encomium honoring the "angelic doctor." This is one of the Angelicum's oldest traditions dating back to 6 February 1344 when Pope Clement VI granted to those visiting a church of the Dominican Order on 7 March the feast of St. Thomas Aquinas the remission of one year and forty days of purgatory. After the offertory of the Mass the motet O Doctor optime by Vincenzo De Grandis (1577–1646) was sung in four voices. After Mass a Dominican student or invited speaker recites an encomium in honor of St. Thomas.

2013, Angelo Vincenzo Zani presider, Congregation for Catholic Education Secretary, Titular Archbishop of Volturnum, Angelicum Theology Faculty alumnus.

School motto and hymn

In 1908, when the college was transformed it into the Collegium Pontificium Internationale Angelicum, Blessed Hyacinthe-Marie Cormier bestowed upon it his personal motto as Master General of the Order of Preachers, caritas veritatis. This Latin phrase literally translated as the charity of truth appears in The City of God by St. Augustine of Hippo, and is quoted by St. Thomas Aquinas in comparing the active and the contemplative life: "Unde Augustinus dicit XIX De civ. Dei, Otium sanctum quaerit caritas veritatis; negotium justum, scilicet vitae activae, suscipit necessitas caritatis," which Aldous Huxley translates in The Perennial Philosophy as: "The love of Truth seeks holy leisure; the necessity of love undertakes righteous action." Augustine's phrase also appears in the writings of William of St-Thierry

The Angelicum does not currently have a school song.

Angelicum regalia

Academic dress for Angelicum graduates consists of a black toga or academic gown with trim to follow the color of the faculty, and an academic ring. In addition, for the Doctorate degree a four corned biretta is to be worn, and for the Licentiate degree a three corned biretta is to be worn. Traditionally the ceremony at which the biretum is imposed is called the "birretatio".

For those holding doctoral degrees from a pontifical university or faculty "the principal mark of a Doctor's dignity is the four horned biretta." The 1917 Code of Canon Law canon 1378 and 1922 commentary prescribe the four corned biretum doctorale and doctoral ring or annulum doctorale for doctorates in philosophy, theology, canon law, specifying that the biretum should decorated according to the color of the faculty ("diverso colore ornatum pro Facultate"). The 'traditional' Angelicum biretta is white to correspond to the white Dominican habit. However, the Academic Senate of the Angelicum in its May 2011 meeting indicated that for the Licentiate and Doctorate a black biretta may be used with colored piping and pom to follow the color of the faculty.

The biretta is lay in origin and was adopted by the Church in the 14th century: "Many synods ordered the use of this cap [the pileus or skull cap] as a substitute for the hood, and in one instance the synod of Bergamo, 1311, ordered the clergy to wear the bireta on their heads after the manner of laymen'." Herbert Norris, Church Vestments: Their Origin and Development, 1950, 161).

Angelicum athletics

The Olympic motto Citius, Altius, Fortius (Faster, Higher, Stronger) was coined by Henri Didon for a Paris youth gathering in 1891, and later proposed as the official Olympic motto by his friend Pierre de Coubertin in 1894 and made official in 1924. Didon completed his theological studies at the College of Saint Thomas in 1862.

The Clericus Cup is a soccer tournament that takes place annually between the various pontifical universities of Rome. The teams are composed of seminarians, priests, and lay students studying in each of the pontifical universities. The league was started by Cardinal Secretary of State, Tarcisio Bertone who is an unapologetic football fan. The Angelicum first participated in 2011, and came in second place in 2012. During the history of the Clericus Cup, players have come from 65 countries, with the majority coming from Brazil, Italy, Mexico, and the United States. The annual tournament is organized by the Centro Sportivo Italiano. Officially, the goal of the league is to "reinvigorate the tradition of sport in the Christian community." In other words, to provide a venue for friendly athletic competition among the thousands of seminarians and lay students, representing nearly a hundred countries, who study in Rome.

In November 2011 Minerva the Owl was voted in as the Angelicum mascot.

Student housing

The Angelicum does not provide housing primarily intended for lay students. However, assistance finding local student housing is offered by the Angelicum Office of Student Affairs (ASPUST). The office is located in the Palazzo dei Decanati or Deans' Building at the West end of campus, just inside the gates to the right.

The Lay Centre at Foyer Unitas is an international college for lay students within walking distance of the Angelicum.

The Convitto San Tommaso was established by the Dominican Order in 1963 as a place of residence in Rome for secular priests who come to the Rome in order to pursue higher studies at one or other of the Roman Universities. There are approximately 55 student priests. They come from five continents of the world. Three Dominicans live in the house to serve the practical and spiritual needs of the house: the Rector, the Spiritual Director, and the Bursar. The life of the house focuses on daily celebration of the Eucharist.

Student activities

The following is a sample of student activities:

The Associazione Studentesca Pontificia Università San Tommaso (ASPUST), or Student Association of the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas, is housed in the Angelicum Office of Student Affairs.

ASPUST holds elections for its offers in mid November each year.ASPUST offers services to students and prospective students of the Angelicum such as information about health services and insurance, information about apartment hunting, other services relating to public transportation, computers, cafeterias, and a blog that reports on student activities.

At various times during the academic year one of the Faculties or the Student Association sponsors a day-long pilgrimage for students and faculty to locales such as Assisi, Norcia, Cascia, Subiaco, Orvieto, Siena, or Roccasecca, birthplace of St. Thomas Aquinas.

Chaplaincy of the Angelicum sponsors a "Karol Wojtyla Discussion Group" that meets weekly.

The Angelicum Choir meets for practice each week in the chapel.

Bookstore

The Angelicum Bookshop is run by Libreria Leoniana of Rome. Located on near the University Library, it specializes in ecclesiastical literature, Italian and foreign language literature, and provides stationery, photo-reproduction, computer, and bindery services. Hours during the academic year are 9:00am to 1:00pm and 3:00pm to 6:00pm. It is closed Saturdays and the month of August.

Publications and media

Angelicum is the official peer-reviewed academic journal of the university. The journal covers the major disciplines of the university, including theology, philosophy, canon law, and social science, as well as other sacred disciplines. It was established in 1924 as Unio Thomistica and obtained its current title in 1925. Articles are published in English, Italian, Spanish, French, and German.

Oikonomia is the journal founded in 1999 at the Faculty of Social Sciences (FASS) of the Angelicum. It is a collaborative project of the lecturers and students of the faculty, and of scholars who work with the FASS. The issues that are covered are those of the social sciences, as we understand them in our tradition, covering five areas: philosophy, law, history, psico-sociological, economics. The subjects treated as the journal's editorial profile has developed have ranged from theoretical issues to reports on conferences, to reviews of important new books. Particular attention is given in every number to selecting a text from the recent or distant past, but which always has particular significance for the main theme of the number; this text, the "classic page", is always directly connected with the editorial. The editorial committee ensures only that a correct methodology has been employed by the author of contributions. It does not vet the content of the articles, for which the sole responsibility lies with the authors.

Studi is a series of monographs produced by the Istituto San Tommaso treating Thomistic themes including historical and contemporary hermeneutics of St. Thomas. A recent contribution to his series is the volume Sanctitatis causae – Motivi di santità e cause di canonizzazione di alcuni maestri medievali, eds Margherita Maria Rossi e Teodora Rossi.

Angelicum University Press (AUP) was founded in 2002 to oversee the publication projects of the Angelicum.

The Angelicum sponsors the "Angelicum University Channel," an online video channel that features news coverage of major Angelicum events and initiatives.

The Angelicum Office of Public Relations sponsors the "Angelicum Newsletter Blog" and the "Angelicum Alumni Website".

Notable alumni

The following are some Angelicum notables from the relatively recent past.

Some recent alumni

Martin Grabmann, 1901 Doctorate in Philosophy, 1902 Doctorate of Sacred Theology. Historian of medieval theology and philosophy.

Mariano Cordovani, 1909 Doctorate in Sacred Theology. Philosopher, social and political theorist and Theologian of the Pontifical Household.

Marius J. Zerafa O.P., 1929–2022, Lectorate ad Licentiate in Sacred Theology and a Doctorate in Social Sciences. Art historian, lecturer and instrumental in the successful recovery of Caravaggio's St. Jerome following its theft in 1984 from St. John's Co-Cathedral, Malta.

Marie-Dominique Chenu, 1920 Doctorate in Sacred Theology. Theologian.

Fulton Sheen, Venerable, 1924. Philosopher, theologian, media personality, Roman Catholic Archbishop.

Joseph Clifford Fenton, 1931 Doctorate in Sacred Theology. Theologian.

Tit Liviu Chinezu, 1930 Doctorate in Sacred Theology, Romanian Greek-Catholic priest and bishop, imprisoned by the Romanian Communist regime, died in 1955 due to hypothermia and other untreated illnesses. Beatified by Pope Francis in 2019.

Ioan Suciu, 1931 Doctorate in Sacred Theology, Romanian Greek-Catholic bishop, imprisoned by the Romanian Communist regime, died in 1952 due to untreated illnesses, beatified by Pope Francis in 2019. On the occasion of obtaining his doctorate in theology, the renowned Dominican monk Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange congratulated Ioan Suciu and placed the university ring on his finger, a gesture that was very rare and signified exceptional appreciation. He had a deep friendship with Blessed Tit Liviu Chinezu, lasting until his death.

Józef Maria Bocheński, 1934 Doctorate in Sacred Theology. Historian of logic, neo-scholastic Thomist philosopher and member of the "Cracow Circle".

Some recent faculty and staff

For a more complete list of notable Angelicum faculty throughout its history see List of people associated with the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas

Réginald Marie Garrigou-Lagrange, 1909–1960 Philosophy and Theology.

Edouard Hugon, 1909–1929 Philosophy.

Thomas Pègues, 1909–1921 Theology. His 21-volume Catéchisme de la Somme théologique, 1919, which was translated into English in 1922,

Mariano Cordovani, 1910-1912 Theology, 1912-1921 Philosophy, 1927-1932 Rector.

Jacques Marie Vosté, 1911–1949 Theology.

Jacek Woroniecki, Servant of God, 1929–1933 Moral Theology and Pedagogy.

Józef Maria Bocheński, 1934–1940 Logic.

Paul-Pierre Philippe. 1935–1939; 1945–1950 History of Spirituality and of Mystical Theology.

Fabio Giardini, 1956–2006 (an Angelicum record) Theology. 1955 Angelicum Doctorate in Sacred Theology, 1987 Master of Sacred Theology.

Abelardo Lobato Casado, 1960–1989 Ontology, Dean of Philosophy Faculty 1967–1989.

Timothy Radcliffe, 1992–2001 Grand Chancellor of the Angelicum and Master of the Dominican Order.

Wojciech Giertych 1994–present Moral Theology. 2005–present Theologian of the Pontifical Household.