Dominicans
in Atlanta
Aquinas
Center of Theology
ATLANTA,
GA -- As the Aquinas Center of Theology nears its silver jubilee,
what does the center do and what does it accomplish? According
to David Balunas, president of the Executive Resource Group in
Marietta, GA, “The Aquinas Center provides a Dominican intellectual
presence on the Emory University campus through an endowed chair
at its Candler School of Theology and a Catholic studies minor
at the undergraduate level.” David adds: “The
Aquinas Center also provides a valuable intellectual resource to
the Archdiocese of Atlanta through a variety of scholarly and intellectual
programs and publications.”
And,
according to Dr. Elaine P. LeBlanc, provincial secretary for the
Dominican Laity, “The Aquinas Center provides an open forum
for both scholarly and practical dialogue as it presents the Catholic
perspective on issues that are the signs of our times.”
The
Aquinas Center began as the Dominican Study Center, Inc. in 1984
as an institution for Dominicans of St. Martin Province
to study in connection with Emory University, a Methodist institution. The
first director was Fr. Robert U. Perry, OP (St. Martin).
In
1987 this Dominican Study Center was transformed into the Aquinas
Center of Theology, named after St. Thomas Aquinas. In
1996 the Aquinas Center endowed two permanent chairs at Emory:
the Aquinas Chair in Catholic Theology at Emory’s Candler
School of Theology and the Aquinas Chair in Catholic Studies.
Since
1991, the Center has sponsored 14 Visiting Dominican Scholars. Mary
Catherine Hilkert, OP, from the University of Notre Dame, taught
a course on The Theology of Edward
Schillebeeckx in the Spring of 1991. Other Dominican
scholars have come from such theological centers as the Institut
catholique de Paris, Blackfriars at Oxford, Fordham University,
University of Fribourg, Aquinas Institute of Theology, Catholic
University of America, Graduate Theological Union at Berkeley,
Catholic Theological Union (Chicago). The most recent Scholar
has been John Allard, OP, from Providence College in Rhode Island.
Currently
the Aquinas Center sponsors three annual lectures: Thomas
Aquinas, Aquinas
Spirituality and the Aquinas Social Justice. In
the fall of 2008, major addresses will be presented by Wilton Gregory (Archbishop
of Atlanta) and Timothy Radcliffe, OP (former Master of the Dominican Order). The
Center also co-sponsors numerous Catholic theological events throughout the
greater Atlanta region.
The
Board of Directors currently includes six Dominicans: Mari-beth
Beres, OP (Adrian), Elaine LeBlanc, (Laity)
and from St. Martin Province: Gerard Austin, OP, George
Boudreau, OP, David G. Caron, OP and Carl B. Trutter, OP The
present managing director for the Center is Dr. Dana Greene, dean
emerita of Oxford College of Emory University.
SOURCE: Carl B. Trutter, OP (St.Martin)
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