Fr. Timothy Bellamah, OP, appointed Socius Adiunctus of the Leonine Commission

Fr. Timothy Bellamah, OP, of the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC, was recently appointed socius adiunctus (associate) of the Leonine Commission centered in Paris at the Dominican convent of Saint-Jacques. Pope Leo XIII wrote in Aeterni Patris (1879): “While, therefore, We hold that every word of wisdom, every useful thing by whomsoever discovered or planned, ought to be received with a willing and grateful mind, We exhort you, venerable brethren, in all earnestness to restore the golden wisdom of St. Thomas, and to spread it far and wide for the defense and beauty of the Catholic faith, for the good of society, and for the advantage of all the sciences (31).” The Leonine Commission, established in 1880 by Pope Leo XIII as a special apostolate of the Dominican Order, continues to fulfill this exhortation. Fr. Frederick Hinnebusch, OP, of the Province of St. Joseph, described the Commission in the New Catholic Encyclopedia: “The pope had desired texts corrected from the best manuscripts that could be rapidly published for use in the Thomistic revival.” The Leonine Commission is still producing critical editions of St. Thomas’ voluminous work. Fr. Bellamah, a Washington DC native, entered the Order of Preachers in 1991 and was ordained a priest in 1998. He received his bachelor’s degree from Wake Forest University, and his M.Div., S.T.B and S.T.L degrees from the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception before earning a Ph.D in 2008 from the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (Section des sciences Religieuses) in 2008. In 2010, Fr. Bellamah returned to the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception as an Instructor in Systematic Theology. Besides teaching Fr. Bellamah serves as the editor of The Thomist as well as the Assistant Director of the Thomistic Institute and the Director of the Doctoral Program in Thomistic Studies. He has published numerous articles and essays along with his book, The Biblical Interpretation of William of Alton (Oxford University Press, 2011).

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