• On November 8 the Most Rev. James D. Conley, Bishop of Lincoln, Nebraska, ordained into the holy priesthood of Jesus Christ two Thomas Aquinas College alumni: Rev. Patrick Carter, O.S.B. (’05), and Rev. Peter Miller, O.S.B. (’07). Fr. Carter and Fr. Miller are two of the 11 Thomas Aquinas College alumni serving at Our Lady of the Annunciation of Clear Creek Abbey in Hulbert, Oklahoma. With these two latest ordinations, the College can now claim — by God’s grace — 64 alumni priests! Deo gratias!

• Michael Van Hecke (’86), headmaster of St. Augustine Academy in Ventura, California, and president of the Institute for Catholic Liberal Education, recently served as an American delegate to the Vatican’s World Congress on Catholic Education. During his time in Rome, Mr. Van Hecke published a series of dispatches on the College’s website (parts one, two, and three) and sat down for a video interview with the Cardinal Newman Society. “Two things struck me,” he said of the conference. “One was the real commitment and passion by virtually every speaker about the importance of really making sure everybody keeps Christ in Catholic education.” The second, he continued, was that “Catholic education is still worth fighting for.”

• “If Western culture continues to be defined by the pitiful desire to go on living in as much physical comfort as possible, we will continue to be victimized and oppressed by the much more powerful appeal of radical Islam to die for God and eternal happiness,” writes Dr. Adam Seagrave ('05) in a new article in The Public Discourse. An assistant professor of political science at Northern Illinois University, Dr. Seagrave contends that if the West is to withstand the threat of radical Islam, “We would do well to draw upon the resources in our intellectual and religious traditions that are powerful enough to inspire its continuing defense.” The article is available for free via The Public Discourse website.

NEW SAINT, NEW BISHOP 
Honoring St. Junipero & Bishop Barron

On November 19, Catholics from all 39 parishes in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles’ Santa Barbara pastoral region gathered to honor their newly canonized patron, St. Junipero Serra, and their new episcopal vicar, the Most Rev. Robert Barron. Present for the joyous occasion were the College’s dean, Dr. Brian T. Kelly (’88), and his wife, Karen (Stuart ’88); two College chaplains, Rev. Paul Raftery, O.P., and Rev. Michael Chaberek, O.P.; Resident Assistant Sarah Dufresne (’14); and three members of the Senior Class, Jonathan Chavez, Matthew Murphy, and Margaret Smillie. “It was a wonderful event,” remarked Dr. Kelly. “It caused me to reflect on the Catholic history of Southern California and Ventura County; and it gave me a tremendous sense of joy that we are going to be working with Bishop Barron.”

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TWO NEW BOOKS!
Tutor and Chaplain Release New Works in Time for Christmas

• In honor of his onetime mentor, Thomas Aquinas College tutor Dr. David F. Appleby has co-edited a new collection of essays that examine the ways in which ancient and medieval societies adapted to new challenges by drawing from their cultural past. On December 15 the Pontifical Institute for Medieval Studies released On the Shoulders of Giants: Essays in Honor of Glenn W. Olsen, a collaboration of many of the renowned historian’s former students and friends, edited by Dr. Appleby and one of Dr. Olsen’s daughters, Dr. Teresa Olsen Pierre. The book features 10 studies of historical topics — ranging from late antiquity to 19th century Italy — that touch upon cultural matters of tradition, adaptation, renewal, growth, and change.
 
• Meanwhile, Thomas Aquinas College Chaplain Rev. Michael Chaberek, O.P., has published his first book. Catholicism and Evolution: A History from Darwin to Pope Francis presents a comprehensive analysis of the Church's magisterial statements about creation and evolution, from the Church Fathers, to the Medieval Scholastics, to the pronouncements of recent popes. Writing for Catholic World Report, the esteemed philosopher Rev. James V. Schall, S.J., offered high praise  for the work, calling it “tightly argued and carefully researched.” Catholicism and Evolution, adds Fr. Schall — a longtime friend of the College and a member of its Board of Visitors — presents “a whole new take on essential issues,” and demonstrates that “the teachings found in Scripture, in their essence … shed light on what we have come to know.”