Dear brothers and sisters,
Welcome to the Studium.OP website! This site is intended to share information and resources related to study and intellectual life, as an essential dimension of the mission of the Order of Preachers. The preaching of grace in the footsteps of Saint Dominic and the sharing in his compassion and commitment to the fullness of life - the salvation - of all men and women and of all peoples, impel us to "cultivate the inclination of human beings towards the Truth" (Cf. LCO, 77), exercising in the midst of the history of humanity and of the Church, the function that our General Chapters have characterized as "misericordia veritatis" (Cf. ACG 2001 Providence, 104-135). This requires of all members of the Order a lifelong dedication to the search for truth, to study, to listen and to dialogue with people, cultures and currents of thought, as part of the Dominican vocation. The Ratio Studiorum Generalis of the Order, approved in 2017, describes the features of this Dominican commitment to study and invites us to cultivate it as a common task, at the local, regional and universal levels.
In the various sections of this site you can find the following data, which we hope may be useful for our work in this field:
I. Agenda: main activities programmed in the various regions of the Order on questions related to study and intellectual life.
II. Directory: names of those who are working in the animation of the intellectual life in the different instances of the Order (Permanent Commission for the promotion of studies in the Order, secretariat for the intellectual life, regents of studies, moderators of the centers of institutional studies, professors, brothers preparing for teaching, and brothers who have received the title of magistri in sacra theologia).
III. Centers of Studies and Academic Institutions OP: information on the various Dominican academic institutions around the world: universities, faculties and university level centers, as well as centers of institutional studies and specialized studies in the various provinces.
IV. Activities and Collaboration in the Regions of the Order: information on activities and collaboration in the field of study in each Region (Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America & Caribbean, North America) and in the Provinces through the reports of the regional coordinators and of the regents of studies.
V. In dialogue with present challenges: information on activities related to various dimensions of dialogue, such as the "Salamanca Process", called like that "by analogy with the meeting of the preachers of Hispaniola and theologians of Salamanca" (cf. ACG 2019, Biên Hòa, 315-316); dialogue with cultures and religions through the network of Dominican presences in the various regions, and dialogue in the world of information technology, through the Dominican initiative "Optic". Other initiatives could be added in the future.
VI. Dominican Study - texts and testimonies: Finally, this section includes material (texts and personal testimonies) that we hope may be useful to all readers of the site interested in knowing about Dominican study or deepening on its features, its representatives and its diversity of expressions.
This first version of the Website will hopefully be completed in the near future and will also be available in French and Spanish. Please contact the above-mentioned Secretariat address for any suggested corrections. We hope above all that Studium.OP may be a useful instrument for sharing initiatives and encouraging study at the service of the mission of the Dominican Order.
With all best wishes in Christ,
fr Pablo