Letter from the President
Dear Friends,
In his recent Commencement Address to
our graduates on May 11, His Eminence
Donald Cardinal Wuerl spoke of his great
appreciation for the “Dominican dynamic of
explaining the Gospel in the context of the
current moment.” When you stop to think
about it, this is the key of all good preaching,
isn’t it? Good preaching is much more than
a well-crafted speech that delights the ears.
Good preaching must address the needs,
concerns, and questions of people in a given
time and context. And it must do so from the
fount of wisdom that is the teaching of the
Church, rooted in the Gospel. Fundamentally,
it is a word of grace that touches minds and
hearts, and leads to conversion.
The classroom instruction we provide
certainly seeks to prepare our students
to teach and preach in this way. First of
all, they receive a theological formation
solidly grounded in the Church’s tradition,
particularly the Thomistic theological
perspective. But our professors also make
a conscious and concerted effort to show
how both doctrinal and moral assertions of
the Catholic faith correspond to concrete
pastoral situations that our students are
likely to encounter in the context of priestly
ministry or in attempts to evangelize in the
public square. While we have a few courses
that specifically focus on pastoral formation,
the “pastoral application of theology” I
described above is actually a key component
of every course in our academic program.
the context of the current situation. Our
Thomistic Institute has recently helped to
produce a catechetical program to support
RCIA instruction in parishes throughout the
country. The multi-format program seeks to
clearly explain key teachings of the faith from
the Thomistic theological perspective in a
way that is accessible to people today and
that moves them to a deeper appreciation of
the richness of Catholic doctrine.
Your support, then, is assisting us in passing
on this “Dominican dynamic of explaining the
Gospel in the context of the current moment”
to a new generation of priests, religious, and
lay graduates who are eager to participate
in the New Evangelization. Cardinal Wuerl
concluded his Commencement Address
by reminding us, “You have received the
invitation to change the world.” With your
assistance, our faculty and students, and our
alumni, are seeking to do just that—change
the world, and make all things new in Christ!
Fr. John Langlois, O.P.
President
Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception
In this issue of Faith & Reason, you’ll also
read about another creative way that we
are attempting to proclaim the Gospel in
Faith & Reason - Volume V, Issue II
3