News from our Brothers in Italy
The Dominican Province of England currently has several of its brothers serving the Order in Italy (mainly in Rome), undertaking valuable work in support of the worldwide Dominican Order. Here are news updates from them.
Fr Robert Gay OP
In September, Fr Robert Gay (formerly Prior in Oxford and who has been based in Italy in recent years) was elected Prior Provincial to lead the Province of St Dominic in northern Italy. The election was confirmed by the Master of the Order, Gerard Francisco Timoner III. The Province posted the following:
“The entire community of friars is united in prayer for our new Prior Provincial, entrusting his ministry to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of the Holy Rosary, and of our Holy Father St Dominic.”
The Province of St Dominic covers the whole of northern Italy including Bologna where St Dominic is buried.
Fr Simon Francis Gaine OP
Fr Simon Francis Gaine (formerly Regent at Blackfriars, Oxford) who is currently teaching in Rome has been elected President of the Catholic Theological Association of Great Britain for a period of two years.
The CTA is a professional association for lecturers and others who are actively involved in the academic promotion and study of theology.
Fr Simon is the second Dominican to hold the office of CTA President. Fr Fergus Kerr OP was President from 1990 to 1992. Fr Simon is a member of the Vatican’s International Theological Commission and Pontifical Academy of St Thomas Aquinas. He is Pinckaers Professor of Theological Anthropology in the Angelicum Thomistic Institute, which is part of the Dominican Order’s Pontifical University of St Thomas in Rome.
Fr Simon said: ‘I am delighted to become the CTA’s new President and look forward to working with my colleagues on the Association’s projects over the next two years.’
Simon Gaine studied theology at Oxford, and completed his doctorate in modern Catholic theology before joining the Dominican Order in 1995. He is the author of Did the Saviour See the Father? (2015); and Will There Be Free Will in Heaven? (2003).
Fr Martin Ganeri OP
Following the completion of his mandate as Prior Provincial, the Master of the Order appointed Fr Martin Ganeri for three years to be the Director of the Institute for Interreligious Relations at the Pontifical University of St Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) in Rome, the Dominican university to which the Studium at Blackfriars, Oxford, is affiliated, and which validates the STB (the Catholic theological qualification required for ministry).
The Institute for Interreligious Relations is a new institute established to promote a vision of interreligious relations that reflects the Thomist theology which serves as the basis for the work of the Dominican University as a whole. In addition to being Director of the Institute, Fr Martin is also a teaching Professor in the Faculty of Theology and subprior of the Priory of St Dominic and St Sixtus, the international community of nearly eighty Dominicans who teach or study at the University.
Fr Benjamin Earl OP
Fr Benjamin Earl OP is coming towards the end of his term in Rome as Procurator General for the Dominican Order, a role that has employed his expertise in Canon Law, and has involved him in bringing to the officials of the Holy See matters arising within the Dominican Order pertaining to Canon Law and which cannot be dealt with internally, for instance Dominicans who have problems in their vocations, or new developments within the Order that require approval from the Holy See. Fr Benjamin was present at the recent canonisation of St Pier Giorgio Frassati, along with Fr Thomas (see below), Fr Joseph Bailham and Fr Samuel Burke.
Fr Thomas-Thérèse Mannion OP
Having completed his time in Edinburgh, Fr Thomas is now starting to study for his STL (Licence to teach theology) at the Angelicum (the Dominicans’ pontifical university in Rome), while continuing his work as Provincial Promoter for the Lay Dominican Fraternities.
