Several
popes officially declared approval of the theological doctrine of Saint Thomas,
a complete anthology of these pronouncements would take us beyond our scope
here. We shall therefore limit ourselves to a few examples. People John XXII
(d. 1334), who canonized Saint Thomas in 1323, said: “He illuminated the Church
of God more than any other Doctor; whoever studies for a year only the books of
him will obtain a greater profit than one who follows the teachings of another
for one’s whole life.” (John XXII, Consistory Speech of 1318) Leo XIII
(d. 1903) declared that, “Among the Scholastic Doctors, the chief and master of
all towers Thomas Aquinas, who, as Cajetan observes, because ‘he most venerated
the ancient Doctors of the Church, in a certain way seems to have inherited the
intellect of all.’” (13Leo XIII, Aeterni Patris [1879], §17) Saint Pius
X (d. 1914) wrote that “after the blessed death of the holy Doctor, there has
not been in the Church any Council when he was not present with his precious
doctrine.” (Saint Pius X, Doctoris Angelici [1914]) And in Pascendi
Dominici Gregis, he added: “let Professors remember that they cannot set
St. Thomas aside, especially in metaphysical questions, without grave detriment.”
(Saint Pius X, Pascendi Dominic Gregis [1907], §45)
Benedict
XV (d. 1922), without mincing words, identified Thomistic doctrine with
Catholic doctrine: “The Church declared the teaching of Thomas to be her own.” (Benedict
XV, Fausto Appetente Die [1921], §7) Pius XI (d. 1939) attributed the
title of “principal master” of Catholic schools to Saint Thomas. (Pius XI, Studiorum
Ducem) Pope Pius XII (d. 1957) who offered beautiful praise of the Common
Doctor: “The method and principles of Saint Thomas prevail over all the rest,
both for forming the intelligence of younger persons, and for leading already
formed souls to penetrate the truths into their most hidden meanings.” And he
continues: “Being moreover in full harmony with divine Revelation, such a
doctrine—that of Thomas—is thus uniquely efficacious in solidly establishing
the foundations of the faith, as well as for grasping the fruits of true
progress.” (Pius XII, Inaugural Discourse of the Fourth International Congress
of Thomist Philosophy, September 14, 1955) Saint John XXIII (d. 1963) sang
the praises of Saint Thomas in the Motu Proprio with which he elevated
the Roman Athenaeum “Angelicum” of the Dominicans to the status of a Pontifical
University. Pope Rancalli writes: “We believe that the greatest contribution
given by the [Dominican] Order to the defense of the faith and to the
propagation of the Gospel, was that from its ranks arose. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor
of the Church, and Universal Doctor of the Church.” The Pontiff adds:
We
strongly desire, for the development of Christian life, that the doctrines of
Thomas Aquinas are studied in-depth, as a treasure, and that his writings are
shared extensively, because they are not inferior in any way to the doctrines and
institutions of our time, [. . . moreover] we are persuaded that if studies of
the doctrine of the Angelic Doctor are enhanced, the decisions of the Fathers
of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council will be better understood. (Saint John
XXIII, Dominicianus Ordo [1963])
Saint
Paul VI (d. 1978) invited everyone to make direct contact with the texts of
Aquinas:
There
is no escape from the fact that, often, the distrust or aversion to Saint
Thomas depends on a superficial and episodic approach and, in some cases, from
a complete lack of direct reading and study of his works. Thus, We, like Pius
XI, also recommend to each person who wants to be formed in a mature knowledge concerning
the position to take in such subject matter: Go to Thomas! Seek and read
the works of Saint Thomas—we wish to repeat—not only for finding in such rich
treasures for the spirit, but also, and even before this, to personally recognize
the incomparable depth, abundance, and importance of the doctrine that it
contains. (Saint Paul VI, Lumen Ecclesia [1974], §3)
Saint
John Paul II (d. 2005) emphasizes that “the Church has been justified in consistently
proposing Saint Thomas as a matter of thought and a model of the right way to
do theology,” and he adds:
Saint
Thomas was impartial in his love of truth. He sought truth wherever it might be
found and gave consummate demonstration of its universality. In hum, the Church’s
Magisterium has seen and recognized the passion for truth, and, precisely
because it stays consistently within the horizon of universal, objective, and
transcendent truth, his thought scales “heights unthinkable to human intelligence.”
Rightly, then, he may be called an “apostle of the truth.” (Saint John Paul II,
Fides et Ratio [1998], §43-44)
It
should be clear in the light of these reflections why the Magisterium has repeatedly
acclaimed the merits of Saint Thomas’ thought and made him the guide and model for
theological studies. This has not been in order to take a position on properly philosophical
questions nor to demand adherence to particular theses. The magisterium’s
intention has always been to show how Saint Thomas is an authentic model for
all who seek the truth. In his thinking, the demands of reason and the power of
faith found the most elevated synthesis ever attained by human thought, for he
could defend the radical newness introduced by Revelation without ever demanding
the venture proper to reason. (Saint John Paul II, Fides et Ratio, §78)
Given
the role that the Magisterium recognizes for the Common Doctor, Benedict XVI
draws attention to the fact that:
It
is not surprising that, after St. Augustine, among the ecclesiastical writers
mentioned in the Catechism of the Catholic Church St. Thomas is cited
more than any other, at least 61 times! He was also called the Doctor
Angelicus, perhaps because of his virtues and, in particular, the sublimity
of his thought and the purity of his life.
And
then, with special reference to the theme of et-et and of the “synthetic”
perspective, Pope Benedict continues:
In
short, Thomas Aquinas showed that a natural harmony exists between Christian
faith and reason. And this was the great achievement of Thomas who, at the time
of clashes between two cultures, that time when it seemed that faith would have
to give in to reason, showed that they go hand in hand, that insofar as reason
appeared incompatible with faith it was not reason, and so what appeared to be
faith was not faith, since it was in opposition to true rationality; thus he
created a new synthesis which formed the culture of the centuries to come. (Benedict
XVI, General Audience, June 2, 2010) (Mauro Gagliardi, Truth is a Synthesis:
Catholic Dogmatic Theology [Steubenville, Ohio: Emmaus Academic, 2020], 107-10)
We also have this example:
Saint
Pius X, in the Motu Proprio Doctoris Angelici (1914), confirms that the
thought of Saint Thomas is the criterion according to which other authors are
also evaluated: “If on some occasions We or Our predecessors have appeared with
special praise the doctrine of another author or of a saint, and if we have
also hoped that this doctrine will be divulged and defended, then it is because
it has been proven that it is in harmony with the principles of Saint Thomas,
or at least that it does not absolutely contradict them” (our translation.) (Ibid.,
107 n. 134)
