The first conference was the Karol Wojtyła Congress held on May 19 at the Pontifical University of John Paul II in Kraków, Poland. Scholars from around the globe convened to examine the philosophical and theological legacy of Pope Saint John Paul II, whose thought remains vital for contemporary personalism and Catholic anthropology. In the said conference, Aguas delivered a keynote address titled The Perfection of Power and Integration of the Person: St. Thomas Aquinas and Karol Wojtyła on Virtue, offering a synthesis of Thomistic metaphysics and Wojtyłan ethics. He argued for a view of virtue rooted not in coercion or convention but in rational and spiritual freedom. Ringor followed with Divinus in Caro: Karol Wojtyła’s Ontological Personalism In-Between Theomorphism and Technomorphism where he critiqued the twin extremes of deifying or dehumanizing the human person and proposed Wojtyła’s incarnational vision as a compelling alternative grounded in freedom, responsibility, and participation in truth.

Afterwards, they attended the 11th Religion, Knowledge, and Society Conference held in “Ovidius” University of Constanța, Romania with the theme Global Tendencies, Local Realities: Redefining Peace in a Multipolar World. In this event brought together international experts to explore new frameworks for understanding peace amid global unrest, Aguas presented his plenary lecture titled Global Solidarity: A Key Component in Attaining World Peace, proposing solidarity as both a spiritual calling and ethical imperative. He emphasized that authentic peace requires shared responsibility for upholding human dignity. In another plenary lecture, Whose God is in the City? Political Ontology, Religious Plurality, and the Indispensable Desire for Peace, Ringor explored the metaphysical and theological underpinnings of urban life. Drawing from classical and Christian political thought, he argued that peace depends on restoring a transcendent orientation within civic life.

The final leg of their academic sojourn brought Aguas and Ringor to Suceava, Romania, for the 11th Religion, Knowledge, and Society Seminar, Vatra Dornei from May 25 to 28. Centered on Pathways Towards Reconciliation: Philosophical and Theological Approaches, the seminar explored healing from historical and contemporary wounds. In this seminar, Aguas tackled the topic Reconciliation Through Dialogue: The Philippine Experience, drawing on interreligious dialogue efforts in the Philippines to demonstrate how openness and shared moral foundations foster peace while Ringor discussed the Thomistic-Augustinian account of reconciliation through divine mercy in his talk titled“Remember Me When You Come Into Your Kingdom”: Suffering, Repentance, and Mercy.

Aguas is a Full Professor of the Department of Philosophy and teaches at the Graduate School and the Faculty of Philosophy, while Ringor is the Academic Collaborations Officer of the Ecclesiastical Faculties of Theology, Philosophy, and Canon Law.

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Complying with the Congress’s pledge to diversity, researchers from UST gave talks and took part in panels that broadened the discussion on Filipino philosophy and its role in international discourse. Professor Jove Jim S. Aguas of the Department of Philosophy, Graduate School, and Center for Theology, Religious Studies, and Ethics was a major contributor to the Congress. In addition to moderating and chairing the PAP Society Session titled “Filipino Philosophy in Dialogue: Expanding the Conversation,” Aguas contributed to the Center for Research in Values and Philosophy (CRVP) Round Table Discussion on National Values by presenting a paper titled “The Ambiguity of the Filipino Sense of Nationalism and Filipino Identity.”

In the Contributed Paper Sessions, Thomasian scholars presented their respective papers: 

●      Prof. Fleurdeliz R. Altez-Albela, PhD (Department of Philosophy, Graduate School, and Center for Theology, Religious Studies, and Ethics) – “What Is Levinasian in Sustainability?: Sustainability in the Economy of Being Through Levinas’ Third”

●      Junior Teacher Blaise D. Ringor, PhD (Senior High School and Ecclesiastical Faculties) – “Education, Christian Values, and the Voiding of Reason: John Henry Newman’s Personalist Education”

●      Mr. Christian U. Solis, MA (Senior High School and Graduate School) – “Towards Understanding Fidelity in Marriage and Family: Paul Ricoeur on Man’s Capacity to Promise”

●      Mr. Charles Aldrin A. Delgado (Graduate School) – “Christianity as Discomfort: Kierkegaard’s Philosophy of Religion”

●      Inst. Ivan Efreaim A. Gozum, MA (Institute of Religion and Graduate School) – “Understanding Filipino Close Family Ties Through Gabriel Marcel’s Mystery of the Family”

Aguas also presented the paper entitled “The Relevance of the Metaphysics and the Notions of Being and Analogy of St. Thomas.”

These talks demonstrated the breadth and depth of philosophical study at UST and the contributions made by Filipino academics to international philosophical debates. Additionally, through one-on-one interactions, the Congress gave Filipino scholars a rare chance to fortify relationships and build mutual trust.

The Congress emphasized Rome’s long-standing position as a crossroads of civilizations, and it began with a ceremony at the ancient Baths of Caracalla. Prof. Luca Maria Scarantino, President of FISP, and Prof. Antonella Polimeni, Rector of Sapienza University, both emphasized the merging of humanistic and scientific cultures in philosophical conversations, reinforcing this subject of interconnection in their introductory statements.

Scholars addressed pressing ethical, social, cultural, political, and spiritual concerns all week long. Topics covered included the ethics of artificial intelligence, with discussions on the implications of AI on human decision-making and the ethical responsibilities of AI developers, and the place of spirituality in secular cultures, with debates on the role of spirituality in a modern, secular society. The Congress featured round table discussions, invited sessions, symposia, contributed paper sessions, endowed lectures, plenary sessions, student sessions, and the FISP General Assembly. The goal of these talks was to question conventional wisdom in philosophy by tackling issues of sustainability, gender and cultural diversity, inequality, and other modern world concerns.

Every five years, the WCP is arranged by the Federation Internationale des Sociétés de Philosophie (FISP) or the International Federation of Philosophical Societies. The WCP is a major conference that brings together philosophers, educators, students, and philosophy aficionados worldwide for a week-long discussion of a certain issue.

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Professor Jove Jim S. Aguas, PhD of the Department of Philosophy discoursed on “Christian Humanism and St. Thomas’s Notion of the Human Person,” where he acknowledged that as science and technology advanced, spiritual dimensions of human life often became ignored. Using Aquinas’s philosophy, Aguas “shows that a humanism centered on Christian belief is still a relevant and more acceptable proposition over modern and secular humanism.” Furthermore, Aguas said that “for St. Thomas, man has a spiritual component, and he is ordained towards God. He developed a Christian humanism anchored on theological personalism, a concept that emphasizes the unique relationship between each individual and God and how this relationship shapes our understanding of human dignity and purpose.”

Meanwhile, Junior Teacher Blaise D. Ringor, PhD of the Senior High School and concurrent Academic Collaborations Officer of the Ecclesiastical Faculties, presented his paper entitled “From Garden of Eden to Garden of Gethsemane: Dietrich von Hildrebrand’s Ethics of Incommensurability as a Justification of Loving as Critical Thinking,” where he argued that the interiority of the person is neglected by traditionalist views of ethics. In doing so, he looks at Dietrich von Hildrebrand’s critique and discourses on the former’s ethics of incommensurability to address the flaw by integrating the reality of loving into critical thinking. Ringor argued that “Hildebrand’s approach provides a robust ethical framework that acknowledges the full complexity of the human person, thereby enriching critical thinking with a deeper understanding of love’s ethical significance.”

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The issue contains the following 12 articles:

1. Eusebius of Caesarea’s Christology and the Nicene Confession by Jannel N. Abogado, O.P.
2. Redesigning humans in the Nano-Age by Marciana Agnes G. Ponsaran
3. On Paths from Angst to Redemption: Southeast-Asian Root Metaphors and Key Scenarios by Hermel O. Pama, O.P.
4. “An Exchange of Gifts”: Benedict XVI’s Eucharistic Ecclesiology as an Approach to Ecumenism by Christian Ramos
5. Forming Conscience in a Contemporary World: Aquinas’s Teaching on the Gifts of Wisdom and Counsel by Catherine Joseph Droste, O.P.
6. The Search for Tabique Pampango in the Philippines (PHILIPPINIANA RECORDS) by Regalado Trota José
7. La diócesis de Nueva Cáceres en 1792 según la visita de su obispo, Fr. Domingo Collantes, O.P. (1a parte) (Philippiniana Records) by Cayetano Sánchez Fuertes, O.F.M.
8. Anantanand, Rambachan. Pathways to Hindu-Christian Dialogue. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2022. pp. 158. ISBN: 978-1506474601. (REVIEWS & NOTICES) by Lesley John Louvis, O.P.
9. Baron, Scarlett. The Birth of Intertextuality: The Riddle of Creativity. New York & London: Routledge, 2020. pp. 381. ISBN: 978-0-415-89904-8. (REVIEWS & NOTICES) by Yustinus Suwartono
10. Tyler, Peter. The Living Philosophy of Edith Stein. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2023. pp. 237. ISBN: 978-1-3502-6556-1. (REVIEWS & NOTICES) by Jose Adriand Emmanuel L. Layug
11. Wojtyla, Karol. The Lublin Lectures and Works on Max Scheler. The English Critical Edition of the Works of Karol Wojtyla/John Paul II. Volume 2. Edited by Antonio Lopez et al. Washington DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2023. pp. 609. ISBN: 978-0-8132-3677-3. (REVIEWS & NOTICES) by Blaise D. Ringor
12. Galindo, David Rex. To Sin No More: Franciscans and Conversion in the Hispanic World, 1683-1830. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2017. pp. 330. ISBN: 978-1-5036- 0326-4. (REVIEWS & NOTICES) by Argene Águila Clasara

The open-access journal, indexed under Web of Science, can be accessed here:  

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Independent rankings website EduRank, which uses research publications and citations as data, named the University of Santo Tomas as the top Philippine university for the field of Theology and Religious Studies in terms of research outputs and citations. The rankings were released on February 29, 2024.

UST, a Pontifical University and the Catholic University of the Philippines, operates three ecclesiastical faculties: Sacred Theology, Philosophy, and Canon Law. It also offers civil degrees on theology (major in social-pastoral communication) at the Graduate School, while theology/Christian living courses are institutionally mandated in the tertiary and basic education levels, respectively.

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The articles published in the September – December 2023 issue are the following:

1. by Jeffrey Segovia tackles the understanding linked to the Valley of Hinnom as an allusion to the concept and image of eternal damnation, as well as uncovering the mystery of the silver scrolls of Ketef Hinnom, which is claimed to be one of the most important Biblical discoveries of antiquity.
2. by Leo-Martin Angelo Ruiz Ocampo investigates the experience of the School of Salamanca, how its core dynamic termed as the “Salamanca Process” embodies the charism of the Dominican Order, and the ongoing attempt to recover it as a model for the life and mission of Dominicans today as expressed in official documents of the Order.
3. by José Eugenio Borao Mateo is grounded on Spanish and Dutch documentary sources to provide a better understanding of the archaeological findings in the church, thus offering new perspectives on the archaeological conclusions by highlighting the distinction between two crucial elements: the convent and the church. In other words, the paper proposes the possibility that the final church, constructed with stone, may have remained unfinished, adding complication to the interpretation of the discovered cemetery in the same site.
4. by Allan A. Basas interrogates the presence of the notion of social responsibility in human being’s experiences, in recognition of the inviolability of the Other. Basas likewise urges the readers in a thematic discussion in the cusp of Levinas’ notion of social responsibility and Filipino sociality to show that responsibility is a universal value with many faces.
5. by Alexandre Coello de la Rosa tackles the figure of Don Diego Vázquez de Mercado, the first secular archbishop of Manila, and brings the other aspects of his tenure, such as his relations with the cathedral chapter and his tense relations with the governor of the Philippines, Don Juan de Silva y Enríquez (1609-1616).
6. by Jorge Mojarro
7. by Joselito B. Zulueta revisits the launch of the two volumes of “Doing Philosophy in the Philippines: The Thomasian Collection”, culled from the pages of UNITAS journal. It has embodied the most representative and the most extensive compendium of classic philosophical thinking in the 20th century in the Philippines. The two-volume book was edited by UST Professor Emeritus Alfredo P. Co and published by the UST Publishing House.
8. by Jose Adriand Emmanuel L. Layug talks about George Weigle’s service to the church and to all men of goodwill in search for the true meaning of Vatican II in his work “To Sanctify the World The Vital Legacy of Vatican II”.
9. by Melanie D. Turingan talks about the virtues exhibited by St. Joseph the Worker as God’s dutiful stalwart that provided Jesus a home together with the Virgin Mary, as well as how reader would take inspiration from his virtues.
10. by Blaise D. Ringor explored how Seifert synthesized the philosophies of thinkers like Dietrich von Hildebrand and Josef Pieper with the thoughts of Karol Wojtyla/John Paul II, concurrently offering a critical response to the work of scholars such as Josef Fuchs, Jonathan Harrison, and Franz Böckle. This allows the reader to engage and delve on the primary texts written by Karol Wojtyla/John Paul II.
11. by Marian Joanne Co-Pua, DCL celebrates how fr. Manlangit masterfully delivered his advocacy and its odyssey in tackling the core and essential concepts, principles, and issues in Bioethics.

According to its editor, Rev. fr. Jesus M. Miranda, Jr., O.P., PhD,  the digital interface “aims to facilitate the fluid curation and circulation of knowledge on ecclesiastical disciplines”. The journal publishes the most relevant research articles in the areas of Ecclesiastical Sciences and Church history.

Read the Philippiniana Sacra here:

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“While the journal continues to publish the most relevant research articles in the areas of Ecclesiastical Sciences and Church history, research articles on Thomistic studies are most welcome for submission within these three years to highlight the festivities of the Angelic Doctor,” fr. Miranda said in the Editor’s Note of the September-December 2023 volume of the journal.

The Angelic Doctor’s 700^th year of his canonization was celebrated this year on July 18, 2023; 750^th anniversary of his Dies Natalis (death) will be celebrated in 2024; and, lastly, the 8^th centenary of his birth in 2025.

“May we be reminded of the words of St. Thomas Aquinas, ‘The study of truth requires a considerable effort – which is why few are willing to undertake it out of love of knowledge – despite the fact that God has implanted a natural appetite for such knowledge in the minds of men (Summa Contra Gentiles).'”

The official journal of the UST Ecclesiastical Faculties, an open access website, facilitates the fluid curation and circulation of knowledge on ecclesiastical disciplines.

View the latest volume of Philippiniana Sacra here:

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The webinar bears the title “The Clinical Report of Experts in Cases under Canon 1095: Is it necessary?” and will feature Rev. Fr. Danilo R. Flores, JUD and Rev. Fr. Arnold S. Semilla, JCD as speakers. Fr. Flores’s talk is entitled “The Canonical Doctrine and Jurisprudence of Canon 1095,” while Fr. Semilla’s presentation is entitled “The Jurisprudence of the Roman Rota regarding the Importance of the Expert’s Clinical Report in the Nullity Cases.” Fr. Flores will likewise deliver a second talk, entitled “Brief Comparative Analysis of Rotal Jurisprudence on Can. 1095 NN. 2-3 and the Philippine Jurisprudence on Article 36 of the Family Code of the Philippines.”

The public is invited to this event which tackles a very important issue among families.

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Capiz Archbishop Jose F. Advincula, DD is the newest Filipino addition to the College of Cardinals, in an announcement released by the Vatican earlier today.

Cardinal-designate Advincula finished theology and canon law studies in the University of Santo Tomas.

Prior to his appointment as Capiz Archbishop, Cardinal-designate Advincula was bishop of San Carlos. He also handled administrative positions in the St. Pius X Seminary, Immaculate Conception School of Theology, and the St. Joseph Regional Seminary.

Cardinal-designate Advincula now joins Filipino cardinals Luis Antonio Tagle, Gaudencio Rosales, and Orlando Quevedo.

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In his welcome remarks, UST Rector congratulated the student achievers, saying that, “Excellence is not an act, but a habit… You have achieved a level of competence that only few can achieve, because you have devoted your time, energy, and talent to accomplish your goals. You have prevailed over the tempting desire to settle for less and are dauntless in your quest for something you consider worth undertaking… You have endured and your perseverance has paid off.”

Learning to Lead

Engr. Rolando “Don” J. Paulino, Jr., Managing Director and General Manager of Shell Philippines Exploration BV, Upstream Operated, Shell Upstream International, delivered the inspirational address.

Paulino advised Thomasian students that, “The things that you learn cannot stay in your notebooks, laptops, and phones. As leaders, we all need to know how we can leverage our God-given talents, so we can know how to nurture it, and freely share it with others.”

Also emphasized in Paulino’s speech was, “[By keeping the core values of] competence, humility, and integrity, leadership is not about personal glory, but about making others successful.”

To conclude his speech, Paulino left the students with a challenge: “Our talents are not for us; they are meant to be shared for the good of others. Let the recognitions, the medals, plaques you receive today not remain as something you put on the wall, but instead use it as a reminder to be of service, and to act. Thomasian leaders are action-oriented: we make things happen.”

Paulino received his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering degree from the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Santo Tomas in 1994, cum Laude, and his Master in Business Administration (Leadership and Change) from the Ateneo Graduate School of Business-Regis University in 2004. He also completed the Shell Group Business Leadership Programme, INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France in 2009. He has over two decades of international senior leadership experience in the oil and gas industry.

Recognitions

Each of the top academic achievers from the 18 Faculties, Colleges, and Institutes received the Rector’s Academic Award, conferred by the Father Rector Very Rev. Fr. Herminio V. Dagohoy, O.P. Seminarian John Alfred F. Rabena from the emerged as the valedictorian of Batch 2019, with a general weighted average of 1.126.

Sixteen exemplary officers of recognized organizations received the Quezon Leadership Award for their service, including Carl Lexter Tan from the for spearheading the first National Medical Student’s Conference.

Another award, the Pope Leo XIII Community Development Award, was given to six students and 15 organizations for their outstanding involvement in community development. Among the individual recipients was Kaye Angeline Jimenez from the for being the project head of “Alaga: A Seminar and Workshop on Mental Health for Sitio Galileo.”

The St. Dominic de Guzman Award was given to ten organizations that held activities of significance to the entire University, among them, the Becarios de Santo Tomas that was cited particularly for their organized tutorial program called ‘Bestutor 2018’ where they offer tutorial assistance primarily to UST athletes, although the program was also open to other UST students who were in need of free tutorial services.

Ten individuals and eight groups received the St. Albertus Magnus Award for excelling in research. Among them were Angela Nicole Morabe, Rhoan Irish Dimakiling, and Lovella Kate Sabile of the for winning the Excellent Paper award during the 7th Joint Conference on Renewable Energy and Nanotechnology in Japan. Their winning paper was on the “Conversion of Citronella Oil to Carbon Nanotubes using Co-Pyrolysis with Ferrocene.”

The Benavides Outstanding Achievement Award is given to students who have academic or scientific accomplishments of national or international significance. It was granted to 17 individuals and 17 groups, including Ean Dominique Castro from the Faculty of Arts and Letters for having been a delegate of the Harvard Project for Asian and International Relations.

For students who excelled in sports and the arts, the Pope John Paul II Outstanding Achievement Award was given. UAAP Season 81 Women’s Volleyball MVP Cherry Ann “Sisi” Q. Rondina was among the recipients of this award.  

The Tradition of Excellence Award is given to student organizations that have shown sustained exemplary performance by having received the same award for five consecutive years. The Becarios de Santo Tomas was the lone recipient of this award, for consistently receiving the St. Dominic de Guzman Award from 2015 to 2019.

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