Curial official sees Thomistic revival

December 04, 2008

Archbishop Jean-Louis Brugues, secretary of the Congregation for Catholic Education since November 2007, praised the revial of interest in St. Thomas Aquinas and his moral theology. Archbishop Brugues, like St. Thomas a Dominican, made his remarks last Friday on the occasion of the thirtieth anniversary of the St. Thomas Aquinas International Society.

Ordained in 1975, the archbishop recalled that “after May of '68, moral theology, at least in France, fell into profound neglect” and for “two years, the seminarians of Toulouse received no classes on this subject, considered disagreeable and boring, as no one was found who was willing to teach them … The very idea of making reference to the masters of Tradition stirred in them allergic reactions,” and “it was impossible even to mention the name of Thomas Aquinas: One ran the risk of having people plug their ears.”

In this context, the archbishop said he began to teach the moral theology of St. Thomas without mentioning his name. Years later, seminarians “asked me for classes on the moral theology of St. Thomas. The time of ‘clandestine’ Thomism had ended.”

 

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Further information:

• San Tommaso d’Aquino nel XXX anniversario della SITA (Societa Internazionale Tommaso d’Aquino)
• Vatican Official Considers Aquinas' Comeback, Recalls How Morality Was Scorned in the 60s (Zenit)