Dominican Father Thomas Joseph White was awarded the title of master of sacred theology by the Dominican Order. / Credit: The Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas
CNA Staff, Oct 31, 2023 / 13:45 pm (CNA).
Father Thomas Joseph White, a bestselling author, professor, and a core member of Dominican music group The Hillbilly Thomists, has been awarded the title of master of sacred theology, an accolade of the order that recognizes an individual’s achievements of scholarship and theological work.
“I’m very grateful to the master of the order and his council as well as the friars of the Province of St. Joseph (East Coast, USA) for their fraternal support and encouragement, in awarding me this undeserved honor,” White told CNA in an email Tuesday.
White is currently the rector at the Angelicum, or the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, in Rome. The Angelicum announced the award on Monday.
The title master of sacred theology, which dates back to 1303, was granted to him by Dominican Father Gerard Timoner, master of the order.
White said the title “represents a calling to greater service and fraternal cooperation in the work of theology on behalf of the Church and the order.”
“Of course the award also suggests that theology is done at an international level in the Church in collaboration between individuals and institutions in different countries, in the service of a common Catholic faith,” he said.
He added that the American Church plays a “vital role in this process.”
“I think the award also suggests that the Angelicum and its personnel have a vital role in the contemporary Church in teaching and promoting theology and the other ecclesiastical disciplines,” he said, also mentioning that his predecessor as rector, Father Michal Paluch, was awarded the degree.
About five to 10 individuals in the order receive the title each year, White said.
A Georgia native, White converted to Catholicism during his undergraduate studies at Brown University in Rhode Island. He completed doctoral studies in theology at Oxford University and joined the Order of Preachers in 2003.
He was ordained a priest in 2008 and completed a licentiate in sacred theology at the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception at the Dominican House of Studies.
White, who has taught at the Angelicum since 2018, was named rector in 2021, becoming the first American friar to hold the position.
At the time, he told CNA he was “deeply honored” to take on the role and added: “It’s an opportunity to serve the whole Church and an opportunity to help advance the mission of the Dominican order, which is to seek the truth and to communicate with truth, charity, and in the light of Christ.”
Much of his scholarship focuses on Thomistic metaphysics, Christology, and Roman Catholic-Reformed ecumenical dialogue.
White is the author of several works including “Wisdom in the Face of Modernity: A Study in Thomistic Natural Theology,” “The Incarnate Lord: A Study in Thomistic Christology,” and others.
His most recent book “The Trinity: On the Nature and Mystery of the One God,” published in 2022, explores the development of the patristic fathers on the Trinity and further contributions of St. Thomas Aquinas.
In addition to his academic pursuits, White is also a musician, being one of the founding members of the Hillbilly Thomists, a group of Dominican friars who specialize in bluegrass music and have achieved success and recognition for their work.
White, who plays the banjo, the steel guitar, and the dulcimer, told the National Catholic Register in 2022 that the band was formed from recreational music sessions “as a way to relax during fraternal events, sometimes on the weekends.”
Then once more experienced musicians began joining the group, “it just formed organically over time.”
The Hillbilly Thomists were the opening act at the world famous Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee, during the Knights of Columbus annual convention in 2022.
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CNA Staff, Nov 26, 2020 / 10:35 am (CNA).- Cardinal Vincent Nichols urged the U.K. government Thursday to reconsider a proposed cut to its foreign aid budget.
In a letter to MPs released Nov. 26, the president of the bishops’ conferen… […]
Stephen Sauer was formerly a Jesuit priest in the order’s Central and Southern Province. / New Orleans Television/YouTube April 8, 2019
Boston, Mass., Jul 12, 2023 / 14:15 pm (CNA).
A former Jesuit priest has pleaded guilty to sex crimes committed in and around New Orleans, in which he was charged with drugging and raping 17 adult male victims, many of whom were visiting the popular tourist area.
Detectives also believe that there are more than 50 victims who remain unidentified.
Stephen Sauer, who reportedly left the Jesuit order by his own request in 2020, was sentenced to 25 years in prison on July 7 in front of a Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, judge. He will have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life and is barred from contacting 12 of the victims for life.
The former priest pleaded guilty to 13 counts of sexual battery, nine counts of third-degree rape, 17 counts of video voyeurism, and 16 misdemeanor charges of possessing drugs without prescriptions and possession of drug paraphernalia, the Jefferson Parish District Attorney’s Office said in a statement July 7.
Sauer, 61, would meet his victims in the French Quarter neighborhood of New Orleans, specifically targeting intoxicated men or those who were lost and in need of help. He would drug the men, sometimes by placing narcotics in their drinks at bars.
After some of the victims passed out, Sauer would use an eyedropper to feed the men “sleep-inducing substances,” the district attorney’s statement said.
He would then take the unconscious men to his home in Metairie and take photos and videos of them, “in various stages of undress,” with his phone, the statement said.
Then, Sauer would molest some of the men and “pleasured himself,” the statement said.
Sauer would drive the victims to their hotels or other locations the next morning. The investigation discovered that he shared and traded the images of his victims with others through email.
According to the statement, many of Sauer’s victims were not locals and were separated from friends or lost when Sauer offered to help them.
Sauer’s crimes were committed over two years between 2019 and 2021.
The former priest’s LinkedIn profile says that he served as the pastor of Immaculate Conception Jesuit Church in New Orleans from 2008–2012.
CNA inquired of the Archdiocese of New Orleans if Sauer had other positions in the area but was referred to his former Jesuit province.
Therese Fink Meyerhoff, a spokeswoman for the Jesuits’ Central and Southern Province, confirmed that Sauer served in the province and said: “We learned through media reports that Mr. Sauer pled guilty to charges involving adult men. We encourage any person who has been harmed to notify law enforcement.”
Sauer’s LinkedIn account also says he worked as an assistant professor at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, a Jesuit school, from 2006 to 2008.
Records on the university’s website show that Sauer, who taught theology there, earned his bachelor’s degree at Georgetown University in 1983; his master’s degree at the University of Minnesota in 1991; his bachelor’s of sacred theology degree at Pontificia Università Gregoriana, Rome, in 1997; his licentiate in sacred theology at the Institut Catholique de Paris in 1999; and his doctorate of sacred theology from The Catholic University of America in 2007.
According to Sauer’s LinkedIn account, he was a faculty member at the Jesuit University of San Francisco from 2013 to 2016; however, his name did not appear in search results on the school’s website.
WDSU6 reported in 2021 that Sauer served as executive director of Arc of Greater New Orleans, a nonprofit organization that serves children with intellectual disabilities, but after his December arrest that year, Sauer was no longer employed by the organization.
Authorities began investigating Sauer in June 2021 after he sent a computer hard drive to be repaired by a company in New York.
An employee at the company discovered hundreds of images on the hard drive showing that sexual assaults had appeared to have taken place.
Authorities in New York referred the case to the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office after determining the origin of the photos.
Many of the victims were able to be identified by the detectives because Sauer photographed their driver’s licenses and other forms of identification.
When detectives searched Sauer’s home, prescription pill bottles that had the name of a sex offender in Missouri were found.
Zolpidem, which is known as a “date rape” drug, was found as well, the district attorney’s office said.
Thousands of pro-life advocates gathered outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 1, 2021, in conjunction with oral arguments in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization abortion case. / Katie Yoder/CNA
Washington D.C., Dec 2, 2021 / 08:04 am (CNA).
Anna Del Duca and daughter, Frances, woke up at 5 a.m. Wednesday morning to brave the 30-degree weather outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. They arrived hours before oral arguments began in the highly-anticipated abortion case, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
The case, which involves a Mississippi law restricting most abortions after 15 weeks, challenges two landmark decisions: Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that legalized abortion nationwide, and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which upheld Roe in 1992.
“We’re looking forward to the end of Roe versus Wade in our country,” Anna, who drove from Pittsburgh Tuesday night, told CNA. In her hands, she held a sign reading, “I regret my abortion.”
Anna Del Duca (right) and her daughter, Frances, traveled from Pittsburgh to attend a pro-life rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court on Dec. 1, 2021, in conjunction with oral arguments for the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization abortion case. Katie Yoder/CNA
“I would like to use my testimony to be a blessing to others,” she said, so that “others will choose life or those who have regretted abortion or had an abortion would turn to Jesus.”
Anna remembered having an abortion when she was just 19. Today, she and her daughter run a group called Restorers of Streets to Dwell In Pittsburgh that offers help to women seeking healing after abortion.
Anna and Frances were among thousands of Americans who rallied outside the Supreme Court before, during, and after the oral arguments. To accommodate them, law enforcement closed the street in front of the court. Capitol police also placed fencing in the space in front of the building in an attempt to physically separate rallies held by abortion supporters and pro-lifers.
At 21-weeks pregnant, pro-life speaker Alison Centofante emceed the pro-life rally, called, “Empower Women Promote Life.” The event featured a slew of pro-life women of diverse backgrounds and numerous politicians.
“It’s funny, there were so many diverse speakers today that the only unifying thread was that we want to protect preborn children,” Centofante told CNA. They included Democrats, Republicans, Christians, Catholics, agnostics, atheists, women who chose life, and women who regretted their abortions, she said.
She recognized women there, including Aimee Murphy, as people who are not the typical “cookie cutter pro-lifer.”
Aimee Murphy, 32, founder of pro-life group Rehumanize International, arrived at the Supreme Court around 6:30 a.m. She drove from Pittsburgh the night before. Her sign read, “Queer Latina feminist rape survivor against abortion.”“At Rehumanize International, we oppose all forms of aggressive violence,” she told CNA. “Even as a secular and non-partisan organization, we understand that abortion is the most urgent cause that we must stand against in our modern day and age because it takes on average over 800,000 lives a year.”
She also had a personal reason for attending.
“When I was 16 years old, I was raped and my rapist then threatened to kill me if I didn’t have an abortion,” she revealed.
“It was when he threatened me that I felt finally a solidarity with unborn children and I understood then that, yeah, the science told me that a life begins at conception, but that I couldn’t be like my abusive ex and pass on the violence and oppression of abortion to another human being — that all that I would be doing in having an abortion would be telling my child, ‘You are an inconvenience to me and to my future, therefore I’m going to kill you,’ which is exactly the same thing that my rapist was telling me when he threatened to kill me.”
On the other side of the police fence, the Center for Reproductive Rights and the National Abortion Access Coalition and NARAL Pro-Choice America participated in another rally. Yellow balloons printed with the words “BANS OFF OUR BODIES” escaped into the sky. Several pro-choice demonstrators declined to speak with CNA.
Voices clashed in the air as people, the majority of whom were women, spoke into their respective microphones at both rallies. Abortion supporters stressed bodily autonomy, while pro-lifers recognized the humanity of the unborn child. Chants arose from both sides at different points, from “Whose choice? My choice!” to “Hey hey, ho ho, Roe v. Wade has got to go!”
At 10 a.m., the pro-life crowd sudddenly went silent as the oral arguments began and the rally paused temporarily as live audio played through speakers.
Hundreds of students from Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, traveled to Washington, D.C. for a pro-life rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court on Dec. 1, 2021, in conjunction with oral arguments in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization abortion case. Katie Yoder/CNA
During the oral arguments, students from Liberty University knelt in prayer. One student estimated that more than a thousand students from the school made the more than 3-hour trip from Lynchburg, Virginia.
“Talking about our faith is one thing, but actually acting upon it is another,” he said. “We have to be the hands and feet of Jesus Christ. So to me this is part of doing that.”
Sister Mary Karen, who has been with the Sisters of Life for 21 years, also stressed the importance of prayer. She drove from New York earlier that morning because, she said, she felt drawn to attend. She came, she said, to pray for the country and promote the dignity of a human person.
“Our culture is post-abortive,” she explained. “So many people have suffered and the loss of human life is so detrimental, just not knowing that we have value and are precious and sacred.”
Theresa Bonopartis, of Harrison, New York, was among the pro-life demonstrators outside the U.S. Supreme Court on Dec. 1, 2021. She runs a nonprofit group called Entering Canaan that ministers to women and others wounded by abortion. Katie Yoder/CNA
She stood next to Theresa Bonopartis, who traveled from Harrison, New York, and ministers to women and others wounded by abortion.
“I’ve been fighting abortion for 30 years at least,” she told CNA.
Her ministry, called Entering Canaan, began with the Sisters of Life and is observing its 25th anniversary this year. It provides retreats for women, men, and even siblings of aborted babies.
Abortion is personal for Bonopartis, who said she had a coerced abortion when she was just 17.
“I was kicked out of the house by my father and then coerced into getting an abortion,” she said. “Pretty much cut me off from everything, and that’s something people don’t really talk about … they make it try to seem like it’s a woman’s right, it’s a free choice. It’s all this other stuff, but many women are coerced in one way or another.”
She guessed that she was 14 or 15 weeks pregnant at the time.
“I saw my son. I had a saline abortion, so I saw him, which I always considered a blessing because it never allowed me to deny what abortion was,” she said. Afterward, she said she struggled with self-esteem issues, hating herself, guilt, shame, and more. Then, she found healing.
“I know what that pain is like, I know what that experience is like, and you know that you can get past it,” she said. “You just want to be able to give that message to other people, that they’re able to heal.”
Residents of Mississippi, where the Dobbs v. Jackson case originated, also attended.
Marion, who declined to provide her last name, drove from Mississippi to stand outside the Supreme Court. She said she was in her early 20s when Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973.
“At the time, of course, I could care less,” she said. Since then, she had a change of heart.
“We were the generation that allowed it,” she said, “and so we are the generation who will help close that door and reverse it.”
Marion, who declined to provide her last name, was among those who attended a pro-life rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court on Dec. 1, 2021, from Mississippi, where the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization abortion case originated. Katie Yoder/CNA
The crowd at the pro-life rally included all ages, from those who had witnessed Roe to bundled-up babies, children running around, and college students holding up homemade signs.
One group of young friends traveled across the country to stand outside the Supreme Court. They cited their faith and family as reasons for attending.
Mathilde Steenepoorte, 19, from Green Bay, Wisconsin, identified herself as “very pro-life” in large part because of her younger brother with Down syndrome. She said she was saddened by the abortion rates of unborn babies dianosed with Down syndrome.
Juanito Estevez, from Freeport, a village on Long Island, New York, at a pro-life rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court on Dec. 1, 2021. Katie Yoder/CNA
Juanito Estevez, from Freeport, a village on Long Island, New York, arrived Tuesday. He woke up at 6 a.m. to arrive at the Supreme Court with a crucifix in hand.
“I believe that God is the giver of life and we don’t have the right [to decide] whether a baby should live or die,” he said.
He also said that he believed women have been lied to about abortion.
“We say it’s their right, and there’s a choice,” he said. When girls tell him “I have the right,” his response, he said, is to ask back, “You have the right for what?”
Mallory Finch, from Charlotte, North Carolina, was among the pro-life demonstrators outside the U.S. Supreme Court on Dec. 1, 2021.
Mallory Finch, from Charlotte, North Carolina, also woke up early but emphasized “it was worth it.” A pro-life podcast host, she called abortion a “human-rights issue.”
“I hope that it overturns Roe,” she said of the case, “but that doesn’t mean that our job as pro-lifers is done. It makes this, really, just the beginning.”
Wonderfully sound theological based music…more in the easy, listening style.