Sacrae Theologiae Magistri

It is with great joy that the Province of St. Joseph announces that the Master of the Order, Very Rev. Bruno Cadore, OP, has conferred upon three friars of the Province the degree of Master of Sacred Theology: Fr. Albino Barrera, OP, Fr. Romanus Cessario, OP, and Fr. Terence Keegan, OP.  Brief biographies of the new Magistri may be found below. The Master of Sacred Theology is a degree conferred by the Order of Preachers on those of its members who have made an outstanding contribution to the theological sciences.  This is not a degree conferred for a particular course of studies, but for a life of truly outstanding scholarship. As the Order’s own Constitutions describe:

The masterate in sacred theology is conferred on those brethren who are recognized as eminent in promoting the sciences, especially the Sacred Sciences. Excellence of this kind is established by an ability for stimulating and leading doctrinal reflection and research as well as by published works of outstanding value and by significant status gained in a scientific field even outside the Order.

(LCO 96)

In addition, to receive the degree, it is required that the recipient:

• be commendable for his way of life and for prudence; and
• shall have devoted himself fully to intellectual work for at least ten years;

(LCO 97)

The conferral of the degree also requires each to offer a public lecture, the details of which have not yet been determined.

Fr. Albino Barrera, OP

Fr. Albino F. Barrera, OP, is associate professor of humanities teaching moral theology and economics at Providence College. He received his License in Sacred Theology from Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception in 1994; and his Ph.D. in Economics from Yale University in 1988. His publications include Economic Compulsion and Christian Ethics (2005), God and the Evil of Scarcity: Moral Foundations of Economic Agency (2005), and Modern Catholic Social Documents and Political Economy (2001)

Fr. Romanus Cessario, O.P.

Fr. Romanus Cessario, OP, is a professor of systematic theology at St. John’s Seminary in Brighton, MA.  Fr. Cessario also serves as associate editor of The Thomist, and Senior Editor of Magnificat. He received his license in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception in 1972 and his Doctorate in Sacred Theology from the Université de Fribourg (Switzerand) in 1980.  He has been a member of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas since 1999.  Among his many books include: Christian Faith and the Theological Life (1996), Introduction to Moral Theology (2001), A Short History of Thomism (2005), and The Seven Last Words of Jesus (2009)

Fr. Terence Keegan, OP

Father Terence Keegan, OP, is currently an associate professor of Religious Studies at Providence College, where he has taught since 1975. He received his licentiate from the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome, his diploma from Ecole Biblique in Jerusalem, and his doctorate from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (the Angelicum) in Rome.  He is a member of the Catholic Biblical Association of America. His works include: Commentary on the Gospel of Mark (1981), Interpreting the Bible: Popular Introduction to Biblical Hermeneutics (1985); and First and Second Timothy, Titus, Philemon (A Commentary (2006).