General Chapter of Diffinitors
12th day
Tultenango, July 27, 2022
The capitulars continue working in the different commissions. In the afternoon the plenary met to initiate the “open dialogues”. These dialogues will continue in the following days and will deal with different topics.
The first plenary of open dialogues had as its main theme: studies. The Order has a rich intellectual tradition in the theological and philosophical field, therefore, it is necessary to know better the advances in the inclusion of professors, inter-institutional agreements, and scholarships for student friars.
Three academic institutions under the immediate jurisdiction of the Order were especially discussed: the Faculty of Theology at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland; the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (PUST), Angelicum, Rome; and, the French Biblical and Archaeological School of Jerusalem (EBAF), Jerusalem. The following is a brief description taken from the official website of the Order – Studium – (with the corresponding links for each Institution).
The Faculty of Theology of the University of Fribourg is the largest theological faculty in Switzerland and one of the two Catholic theological faculties integrated into a state university. It is subject to national law, like all other university faculties, and is recognized by the Church and supported by the Order and the Swiss Bishops’ Conference. The Faculty of Theology serves the Church as a community, as well as its individual members, and helps society as a whole.
More than half of the professors and almost half of the students of the Faculty of Theology come from abroad. The spirit of a Catholicism open to the world characterizes the life of the faculty as well as the entire university, which gives Fribourg, as a place of study, an international reputation and recognition. The growing number of Reformed and Orthodox students shows the ecumenical spirit of the training. The fairly high percentage of doctoral students testifies to the Faculty’s high competence in research.
The Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) in Rome, Italy, has its roots in the Dominican mission, to study, teach and preach the truth, as reflected in the Order’s motto, “Veritas”. PUST is formed by the faculties of Theology, Philosophy, Canon Law and Social Sciences, together with the Mater Ecclesiae Institute, whose main objective is the preparation of teachers of religion, linked to the Faculty of Theology. Classes are currently held in Italian and English for students of 100 different nationalities. PUST also has several research institutes, some of which offer teaching, such as the Thomistic Institute (Istituto San Tommaso d’Aquino), the Institute of Ecumenical Studies, the Institute of Spirituality and the Institute of John Paul II Culture. Several centers of theological and philosophical studies in different regions of the world are affiliated or affiliated with, or sponsored by, the Faculties of Theology and Philosophy of the PUST.
The École biblique is located near the Old City of Jerusalem, near the Damascus Gate, on the site of a 5th century Byzantine basilica, built where Christian tradition venerated the martyrdom of Saint Stephen the Protomartyr: hence the name of the convent, Saint-Etienne (St. Stephen), given to the religious community of Dominicans who run the École biblique. Since its creation, the École biblique has contributed to pioneering biblical exegesis and archaeological research in Israel and neighboring regions. It has acquired great academic prestige in the fields of epigraphy, Semitic linguistics, Assyriology and Egyptology, as well as in ancient history, geography and ethnography.
