Thomas International Center Mission

“The purpose of the Thomas International Center is to promote and develop the classical Christian intellectual tradition, in two ways: first, by a strong and accurate rereading of Thomas Aquinas’ philosophy and theology, and second, by making Aquinas’ thought fruitfully converse with contemporary culture, especially in areas such as philosophy, political and legal theory, sociology, economics, the natural sciences, and bioethics. The Center’s activities include organizing conferences, lectures, and courses, providing internet resources, offering support for research scholars, and cooperating with like-minded institutes, here and abroad. Eventually, the hope of the Center’s sponsors is that it will be the core of a new international university.”

Read more about our Mission and Agenda

Why Thomas Aquinas as Our Model?

Aquinas’s thought provided a synthesis of the key intellectual traditions in his own time. Especially important features of Aquinas’s thought were its universality and its unity: it confronted the fundamental questions that face human beings in all times and places, it provided a framework within which various sciences could be integrated into a whole, and it recognized and pursued the essential harmony between reason and faith. Today, when knowledge seems to be fragmented into hyper-specialized studies, when people often doubt the very possibility of objective knowledge, and when many think there is an unbridgeable gulf between science and faith, Thomas’ thought sets the right direction for a revival of truth in ethics and metaphysics. Moreover, Aquinas’ natural law teaching and political thought provide a deeper understanding of the nature of the common good and the moral framework necessary for constitutional government and a free society.