Since its initial publication in 2003 I've been a fan of Nova et vetera (English edition), published out of Ave Maria University, in Florida. The journal is certainly one "go-to" place for scholarship on Thomistic theology and ethics, along with other topics of general interest to Thomists. Over the years Matthew Levering or Michael Dauphinais have sent me an issue or two, and I've got about eight issues on my bookshelf—of course I had Marquette get an institutional subscription to the thing from the outset.

Recently I decided that I wanted to complete my collection of the journal. But when it turned out that plugging the gaps of my printed collection with the other printed issues would be too costly, I remembered that a subscription to the journal allowed one to get additional access to PDF versions of articles for a mere $5.00 more per year. So I subscribed to the journal as an individual for $30.00 per year, paid the extra $5.00, and now have access to all the articles of the journal's run since 2003, which I've downloaded, and pumped into my bibliography program (EndNote). Check this one off as "done."

The latest issue of Doctor Communis, the journal of the renowned Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas (PAST), contains the proceedings of its 2006 Plenary Session on the topic: “The Human Person, Natural Law, Human Rights in a complex an globalised world”. Below one can find the titles of the contributions by R. McInerny, R. Cessario, R. Hittinger, G. Cottier and others. The address of the PAST: Casina Pio IV, 00120 Città del Vaticano, Email:past AT acdscience.va

It has been a difficult period for the PAST, founded May 8, 1880 by Pope Leo XIII. (It’s history has been recently written by David Berger, “In dulcidine societatis, quaerere veritatem”. Zur Geschichte der Päpstlichen Akademie des hl. Thomas von Aquin, in: Doctor Angelicus II (2002) 135-180, partially published online) After the death of it’s secretary, Father Bogliolo, in 1998 and the illness and death of it’s principal promotor Msgr. Antonio Piolanti in 2001, all activities were practically put on hold. The reorganisation in 1999 by Pope John Paul II brought a “new phase”, as it’s president Abelardo Lobato OP wrote.The journal, now including the newly organised annual Plenary Sessions, is being republished and in 2003 the PAST organized a succesfull International Congress on Christian Humanism from the perspective of Saint Thomas. The third and final volume of the proceedings of this congress were published last year, bringing the total number to about 3000 pages!

However, the Academy continues to have difficulties as is testified from the following passage from the speech of it’s current president Edward Kaczynski OP printed in the current issue of Doctor Communis: “Since the financial means at the disposition of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas are limited, I propose for next year, instead of a Plenary Session, to prepare a Comment on the Encyclical Deus caritas est of Benedict XVI. At the time of the delivery of the Comment, we will ask for a special meeting with the Pope for all the Members of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas.”

Doctor Communis n.s. 10/1-2 (2007)

• G. Cottier, Loi naturelle et Décalogue
• R. Cessario, Saint Thomas and the Enculturation of the Natural Law : Doing Moral Theology on Earth
• U. Galeazzi, Sulla prossimità spirituale a Tommaso d’Aquino nel pensiero di Charles Tayler. Aspetti antropologici ed etici
• F. Jacques, Thomas d’Aquin et Emmanuel Kant: Loi naturelle et impératif catégorique. Et après ?
• J. Merecki, La visione etica di Karol Wojtyla
• R. Hittinger, John Rawls : The Basis of Social Justice and Intercultural Dialogue in a Globalized World
• H. Seidl, Etica di responsabilità in D. Hume e H. Jonas
• R. McInerny, Ethics and Virtue Ethics
• L. Clavell, Verità e libertà
• R. Ferrara, Legge naturale e legge nuova nel recente Magistero e nelle teologia di San Tommaso
• B. Mondin, Cultura e valori per una società globalizzata
• V. Possenti, Stato, diritto e religione. Il dialogo tra J. Habermas e J. Ratzinger
• I. Biffi, Gesú Cristo “misura” dell’ uomo in Tommaso d’Aquino
• M. Beuchot, La polémica de Las Casas con Sépulveda. Su dependencia respecto de la Escuela de Salamanca

The 7th volume of the International Thomistic Yearbook Doctor Angelicus is out.

Here is the table of contents:

Articuli:

1. Dulles, Avery R.: The apologetics of Thomas Aquinas 5-15
2. Elders, Leo J.: St. Thomas Aquinas’s commentary of Aristotles’s Physics 17-51
3. Vijgen, Jörgen: Did St. Thomas attribute a doctrine of divine providence to Aristotle? 53-76
4. Storck, Thomas: St. Thomas on art 77-88
5. Kwasniewski, Peter A.: A Thomistic preface to theology : “the science of God and of the blessed” 89-108
6. Rauhut, Robert: Die “conversio substantialis” in der “Summa theologiae” des Thomas von Aquin vor dem Hintergrund seines Theologieverständnisses : (Teil 2) 109-187

Notae:

1. Hauke, Manfred: Alexis-Henri-Marie Lépicier : Förderer der thomistischen Dogmatik und “Kardinal Mariens” 189-197
2. Couillaud, Bruno: John Marenbon - “Le temps, l’éternité et la prescience de Boèce à Thomas d’Aquin” 198-205

Recensiones

Got the following in this morning’s e-mail:

AMERICAN THEOLOGICAL INQUIRY (www.atijournal.org)

A Biannual Journal of Theology, Philosophy of Religion, Culture, & History (forthcoming: January 15, 2008).

Particular topics of interest include:

• (Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant, Reformed, or Evangelical) Perspectives on the Current State of American Christianity.
• Current theological/philosophical trends in the Western world.
• Cultural/philosophical apologetics.
• Ecumenism and/or criticism of other traditions (ostensively) within the scope of ancient orthodoxy (Creedal Christianity)
• Systematic theology.
• Perspectives on history/historical events from an orthodox viewpoint.
• Engaging contemporary culture with the gospel.
• Engagement with the Patristical literature.

Please visit: http://www.atijournal.org for SUBMISSION GUIDELINES and additional information about the Journal.

Thanks to private funding, access to American Theological Inquiry is FREE. The Journal will be published in a PDF format, biannually, on January and July 15th.

As ATI prepares for its first edition on January, 15, 2008, we welcome the suggestions, ideas, and feedback of the American community of Christian scholars. To provide feedback to the Journal, please follow this link.

It may be something of a stretch to post it here, but the journal might be a place for a Thomist to say something interesting. I’d rather be too thorough. Those who submit articles are also asked explicitly to affirm their adherence to the four early creeds.

(Sotto voce: I’ve been meaning to think about ecclesial community, its creeds, and its sacred texts; maybe I’ll put together a post on my personal web site…).

The journal Mediaeval Studies, out of the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies in Toronto, has put on-line a near-complete Index of the journal's run, from 1939 through 2005. The Index lists Articles-by-Authors, and the various notes In memoriam for associates of the Institute who have died. The downloadable file is in PDF format. In addition, PIMS also has an Index of critically edited texts that have appeared in the journal, also available in PDF format.