Fr Thomas Joseph White OP is new Rector of the Angelicum

Blackfriars is delighted to hear of the appointment of Fr Thomas Joseph White OP, as the new Rector Magnificus of the Pontifical University of St Thomas (the ‘Angelicum’) in Rome.

Fr Thomas Joseph first got to know Blackfriars, Oxford, when he was an MPhil and DPhil student in Theology at the University of Oxford; and he was retained close ties with us since then. He is a member of the Province of St Joseph (USA). He served as a Professor of Theology at the Dominican House of Studies, Washington DC, for ten years. He was also the founding director of the Thomistic Institute in Washington D.C, an institute for the promotion Catholic thought in our contemporary world by strengthening the intellectual formation of Christians at universities. The institute is now present on over sixty campuses across the US and Europe, including here in Oxford.

Since 2018 Fr Thomas Joseph has taught Theology at the Angelicum. He is Director of the Thomistic Institute at the Angelicum, which promotes research rooted in the thought of Saint Thomas Aquinas. He has been a member of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas since 2011. He is the co-editor of the theology journal Nova et Vetera (English edition), and a Distinguished Scholar of the McDonald Agape Foundation. He’s the author of several books, including Wisdom in the Face of Modernity: A Study in Thomistic Natural Theology (2011); The Incarnate Lord: A Thomistic Study in Christology (2015); Exodus (2016); The Light of Christ: An Introduction to Catholicism (2017), and The Trinity: On the Nature and Mystery of the One God (forthcoming in 2022).

The Angelicum University currently has approximately 1,000 students from nearly 100 countries, with representation of seminarians, priests, religious and lay students alike. The pontifical qualifications awarded to those who train for ministry at Blackfriars Studium are validated by the Angelicum. We look forward to continuing to work closely with Fr Thomas Joseph as he takes on this exciting new responsibility.