Thomas More College of Liberal Arts is the first American institution to become an official collaborator of the new International Ratzinger Foundation (Fundación Internacional Ratzinger, or FIR).
The objectives of the FIR, which is based in Madrid, include “the preservation and promotion of the intellectual legacy of Joseph Ratzinger,” “the dissemination of his thought and work through study, research, and teaching,” and “the connection of the national and international academic spheres with the world’s diverse cultural, social, political, and economic contexts.” The organization will pursue these ends through “research, teaching, publications, grants and awards, conferences, meetings, travel and cultural activities,” and more.
“Given the interest shown by Thomas More College for the study of Ratzinger’s thought, it is a great honor for our Foundation to count on its participation,” remarked FIR president Dr. Marcela Jiménez Unquiles. “We are sure of a possible future cooperation between both institutions, as this is a mutually beneficial possibility that will contribute to the strengthening of the academic community and the realization of the goals we share.”
A recent conference held at the Universidad Panamericana in Mexico City was the FIR’s inaugural event. It featured Ratzinger Prize winners Tracey Rowland (University of Notre Dame Australia) and Pablo Blanco (Universidad de Navarra, Spain), among other experts. Thomas More College Teaching Fellow and Dean of Students Dr. Michael Dominic Taylor was also in attendance; he presented a paper on Pope Benedict in dialogue with the philosophy of science, which will be published in the forthcoming second volume of Joseph Ratzinger in Dialogue with Philosophical Traditions.
“Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI is a towering intellectual figure whose work has only just begun to be appreciated and engaged with,” Dr. Taylor commented. “Thomas More College of Liberal Arts looks forward to contributing to the effort of assimilating and promoting such an important figure in recent Church history.”
Ratzinger’s work is currently incorporated into TMC’s curriculum in the Scripture course Redemptor Hominis, which is currently taught by Visiting Fellow Meghan Schofield. Ms. Schofield, who is writing a doctoral thesis on “Creation and the Crisis of Modernity in the Thought of Joseph Ratzinger,” also offered a tutorial on his thought last semester titled Ratzinger and the Task of Theology.
To date, other American institutions to collaborate with the FIR include the University of St. Mary of the Lake (Mundelein, IL), the Sacred Heart Major Seminary (Detroit, MI), and Benedictine College (Atchison, KS).
For further reading:
Dr. Taylor Accepts Expanded Reason Award in Research Category
The Building Blocks of Critical Thinking: An Interview with Micah O’Leary Kurtz CFP® ’11
