Vatican I declares that "right reasoning . . .  illumined by [the light of faith], perfects the knowledge of divine things," but also that, "the doctrine of faith . . . has not been handed down as a philosophic invention to the human mind to be perfected, but has been entrusted as a divine deposit to the Spouse of Christ, to be faithfully guarded and infallibly interpreted." (Dei Filius, 4)

How does reason perfect faith? How does the theologian perfect knowledge of divine things while faithfully guarding the revelation entrusted to the Church? If, as St. John Henry Newman says, "here below to live is to change, and to be perfect is to have changed often," how does our faith stay alive while remaining the same? How do we distinguish between organic and inorganic development of doctrine?

These questions cut to the heart of philosophy and theology as disciplines in service to the Church. Differing answers to these questions are the source of the contemporary crisis in Catholic thought.

Additional Papers Requested

Please submit a ~300 word abstract by May 1, 2021 to .

Priority consideration will be given for proposals received by April 1, 2021.

*Proposals already accepted in the 2020 call for papers do not need to resubmit.*

OUR SPEAKERS

matthew levering 

 keynote Speaker

James N. and Mary D. Perry, Jr. Chair of Theology 

Mundelein Seminary ~ Mundelein, IL

Dr. Matthew Levering is an author or co-author of around thirty books including Scripture and Metaphysics, Participatory Biblical Exegesis, Biblical Natural Law, Engaging the Doctrine of Revelation, Engaging the Doctrine of the Holy Spirit, and Proofs of God.  He has been editor or co-editor of more than fifteen books including The Oxford Handbook of Sacramental Theology, Aristotle in Aquinas’s Theology, and The Reception of Vatican II, and also the translator of Gilles Emery, O.P.’s The Trinity. Levering is also co-editor of the academic journals Nova et Vetera and of the International Journal of Systematic Theology. He is a Distinguished Fellow of the St. Paul Center, a member of Evangelicals and Catholics Together, and Vice President of the Academy of Catholic Theology.

Fr. Aquinas Guilbeau, o.p.

 plenary Speaker

Prior and Assistant Professor of Moral Theology

The Dominican House of Studies ~ Washington, D.C.
 

A native of Louisiana, Fr. Aquinas Guilbeau, O.P., entered the Dominican Province of St. Joseph in 2005. After several years of pastoral work in New York City, Fr. Guilbeau began doctoral studies in moral theology at the University of Fribourg, where he completed a dissertation on St. Thomas Aquinas’s doctrine of the common good. In addition to his teaching, Fr. Guilbeau serves as senior editor of Aleteia.org (English edition). He is also the current prior of the Dominican House of Studies.

Stephen Loughlin

 plenary Speaker

President and Professor of Philosophy

St. Bernard's School of Theology and Ministry ~ Rochester, NY
 

Dr. Stephen J. Loughlin is President and Professor of Philosophy at St. Bernard’s School of Theology and Ministry in Rochester, NY. Dr. Loughlin earned his Master's and Doctorate in Philosophy at the University of Toronto. Before coming to St. Bernard’s, Dr. Loughlin was an Associate Professor of Philosophy and the Chair of the Department of Philosophy and Theology at DeSales University in Center Valley, PA., a position he held for almost 20 years. Dr. Loughlin’s academic work has appeared in The Thomist, Nova et Vetera, Pro Ecclesia, and Josephinum, and his areas of research interest include Medieval philosophy, and Thomistic anthropology.