LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT
The best hope we have for
converting these contemporary
“fallen-away innkeepers” is
to use the same method as
St. Dominic—to respond with
faith and reason!
With a new academic year well underway
here at the Pontifical Faculty of the
Immaculate Conception, I have the pleasure
of introducing you to our re-designed
newsletter, Faith and Reason. Formerly
known as The 487 Correspondent, the
newsletter not only has a new title but
a brand new look and focus that is more
dynamic and hopefully conveys to you,
our friends and faithful supporters, some
of the vibrancy of what is happening
in our academic program
and Dominican community.
We decided to rename
our publication Faith and
Reason because we think
this better captures what
is at the very core of our
mission. Our mission is to
inculcate in our students a
solid and time-tested vision
for evangelization going back
to the example of St. Dominic
himself — preaching the Truth
of the Gospel in a way that
appeals to both the mind and heart! This
vision is what underlies the formation we
offer to future Dominican priests, religious
and laity who study here, a formation
rooted in the synthesis of faith and reason.
Before St. Dominic founded the Order
of Preachers, he was traveling one day
through southern France and ended up
spending the night at an inn whose owner
had become a member of a heretical sect.
As the story goes, St. Dominic spent the
entire night conversing with the man and
by morning had converted him back to the
Catholic faith! The man was converted
Faith & Reason - Fall 2014
not simply by St. Dominic’s piety but by his
ability to present the truths of the faith in
a rational and compelling way. Preaching
that is grounded in faith and reason was
not only persuasive in St. Dominic’s time, it
remains perennially so!
Here at the Pontifical Faculty of the
Immaculate Conception, we carry out St.
Dominic’s vision of forming contemporary
preachers with a solid foundation in
philosophy (human reason)
and theology (faith).
Our
graduates are thus well
equipped to engage the many
today who have been seduced
by relativism, secularism, and
even atheism. Our students
are prepared to wrestle with
their questions, to provide
rational responses to their
objections, and to present
them with a coherent and
compelling explanation of
Catholic Truth. The best hope
we have for converting these
contemporary “fallen away innkeepers” is
to use the same method as St. Dominic—to
respond with faith and reason!
In upcoming editions of Faith and Reason, I
will speak more about how the theological
perspective of St. Thomas Aquinas, which
forms the core of our academic program,
is the best example of the synthesis of faith
and reason. Hopefully, then, you will come
to appreciate how faith and reason informs
all that we do because we are convinced it
is the most effective way of preaching in a
compelling way to the people of our time
and culture!
3