Pontifical University of the Holy Cross

Given that the effectiveness of latae sententiae penalties is essentially limited to a simple deterrent effect, since their application is left to the exclusive discretion of the person who has committed the offence, the declaration of these penalties is the only instrument for their effective application in the external forum with the consequences provided for by the penalties imposed. The current Latin canon law, following the 2021 reform, confirming the previous solution regarding the conditions for incurring latae sententiae penalties, has more incisively recalled that the responsibility of Pastors towards their duty to protect the people of God from criminal behaviour may suggest its declaration in the more general context of the use of criminal law as an aspect of the pastoral function that must be exercised with a view to protecting the ecclesial good threatened by criminal conduct committed by the faithful.

O artigo explora a inventio de uma ontologia trinitária por parte dos Padres da Igreja, com especial atenção ao Concílio de Niceia de 325 e aos concílios ecumênicos subsequentes. Essa ontologia trinitária, profundamente enraizada na Revelação Cristã, permitiu superar as aporias da metafísica clássica, em particular no que diz respeito à relação entre o ser divino e o mundo criado, e à natureza da própria relação. Na passagem dos apologistas a Orígenes, através da subsequente crise ariana e da releitura de Atanásio pelos Capadócios, mostra-se a passagem da posição de Ário, para quem o Logos era uma mera criatura cuja existência seria funcional à relação entre substâncias distintas, Deus e o mundo, à introdução de um novo princípio de individuação baseado na relação e delineando uma nova ontologia, adverbial e preposicional, porque relacional. Palavras-chave: Ontologia trinitária. Padres da Igreja. Concílios. Ontologia relacional

Peter Lombard’s First Book of the Sentences presents formidable questions concerning the principle of the Son’s generation. Addressing a gap in contemporary scholarship, this article examines Lombard’s foundational exposition of the Father’s power and will to generate. Placing Lombard in dialogue with Thomas Aquinas, this study traces the development of this doctrine across Aquinas’s career, from his commentary on the Sentences to De potentia and the Summa theologiae. Our analysis adopts Aquinas’s own framework to investigate a series of questions: whether generation is an act of nature or will; whether the power to generate is part of omnipotence; whether it is essential or relational; and whether the Son possesses this power. This study finds that Aquinas’s conclusions often converge with Lombard’s intuitions. Both affirm that generation is by nature while simultaneously accompanied by a concomitant will, and that the generative power is rooted in the divine essence. Aquinas’s analysis, however, represents a significant metaphysical development. A key evolution is traced in Aquinas’s understanding of the power to generate, which shifts from being a quasi-natural power distinct from omnipotence to a form of paternal omnipotence. His characterization of this power also matures from being a middle ground between the essential and the relational to being principally essential, signifying the relation of paternity only obliquely. This trajectory toward a firmer grounding in the divine essence is supported by an increasingly refined set of arguments for the Son’s unicity, with principles like the determination of nature and divine simplicity becoming more prominent in his later works. By charting these developments, this article demonstrates how Aquinas builds upon Lombard’s foundational intuitions to construct a more systematic and robust Trinitarian theology. Ultimately, our analysis illuminates the intellectual journey from sound doctrinal intuition to profound metaphysical articulation, where the tenets of faith are secured by a cogent intellectual framework. Our analysis also offers a counter-narrative to contemporary assumptions, challenging modern conceptions of power as a zero-sum game and of freedom as mere arbitrary choice.

Since 2019, artificial intelligence (AI) has played an increasingly central role in daily life. Yet, this phase in AI’s evolution is only the beginning of even greater advancements. Catholic institutions, cognizant of the crucial role the Church must assume in the development of AI, have increasingly engaged with this technological frontier. Among these institutions is Longbeard, which has undertaken the creation of Magisterium AI, a compound AI system that leverages several AI technologies and a large database of Catholic knowledge to produce faithful answers. This article offers a critical analysis of the current state of Magisterium AI, drawing on its 2025 Report, Investor Deck, user feedback, and direct engagement with the system to evaluate its alignment with Catholic ethical principles. Specifically, it highlights the expansion of the database as a key area for improvement, while reflecting on the complexities inherent in such an undertaking. The article concludes that the development of a Catholic AI entails more than simply amassing documents in a database. It requires endowing the AI system with a profound grasp of Scripture and its interpretive traditions; a comprehensive knowledge of theology as a whole; a broad acquaintance with the history of ideas, including the development of culture, art, philosophy, and theology; and a finely honed awareness of the evolving nuances of language and cultural sensibilities through which eternal truths are expressed.

This article argues that Thomas Aquinas’s exegesis of the parables in his commentary on the Gospel of Matthew contains—if only in skeletal form, with certain aspects more fully developed than others—the outline of a comprehensive treatise on Christian eschatology. Aquinas approaches parables with a nuanced perspective, acknowledging their inherent obscurity while also emphasizing their capacity to guide minds toward the truth. He understands their dual purpose as both concealing divine mysteries from the ill-intentioned and revealing them to the receptive. Distinguishing his approach from Albert the Great’s, Aquinas’s commentary features substantial eschatological components. Drawing on primary sources, this article examines these elements, starting with the unknowability of the end of time, which serves to promote vigilance. This article then treats death and particular judgment, the damned’s twofold punishment (the poena damni and the poena sensus), and the righteous’s varied, eternal reward, concluding with the Parousia, inseparably linked to the general resurrection, the final judgment, and the renewal of the world. Finally, this article shows how Aquinas’s engagement with these parables provides a robust, biblically-rooted exploration of the Last Things.

Resumen La conjunción subordinante ὅτι puede utilizarse para introducir oraciones sustantivas o adverbiales. En algunos casos, sobre todo cuando el único uso posible de una oración con ὅτι parece ser el de una oración causal, el significado causal contradice el mensaje global del texto, por ejemplo, en Gal 4,6. Una posible solución reside en una construcción común en las obras de los Oradores griegos y que implica ciertas palabras como δῆλον, φανερόν o τεκμήριον. Este artículo pretende indagar en la forma y el desarrollo de esta construcción durante el periodo helenístico anterior a la formación de los escritos del NT. Abstract The subordinating conjunction ὅτι can be used to introduce substantive clauses or adverbial clauses. In some cases, especially when the only possible usage of a ὅτι clause seems to be as a causal clause, the causal meaning contradicts the overall message of the text, for example in Gal 4,6. A possible solution lies in a construction common in the works of the Greek Orators and involves certain words such as δῆλον, φανερόν or τεκμήριον. This paper seeks to look into the form and development of this construction during the Hellenistic period prior to the formation of the NT writings.

La revelacion de la divinidad de Cristo plantea preguntas decisivas: .Como y cuando fue comprendida y aceptada? .Que papel desempena el Espiritu Santo en esta comprension? Este articulo explora estas cuestiones desde la perspectiva de santo Tomas de Aquino en su Comentario al Evangelio de San Juan. El Espiritu prepara gradualmente a los discipulos para acoger el misterio de la encarnacion, una verdad que excede su entendimiento. Sin el Espiritu, enviado en plenitud en la pascua, los discipulos serian incapaces recibir la Palabra de Dios, que es el Hijo. Asi, las misiones de las personas divinas en la revelacion se muestran en profunda conexion con la Trinidad inmanente.

This article explores the subject of the Paschal Triduum, which has been at the centre of the liturgical celebration of the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ since the first centuries of the Church. The author examines Liber officialis, the work of the medieval liturgist Amalarius of Metz, to show the rites used in the liturgy during the most important days for Christians in the first half of the ninth century. The paper analyses the rites described in Liber officialis and the liturgical customs of the Paschal Triduum, for which Amalarius of Metz provides rich interpretation and justification. The author of this study shows the theological, symbolic and spiritual sense of the celebrations presented in the medieval liturgical instructions. In his analysis, the author takes into account the vital importance of Amalarius’s allegorical method as this mode of interpretation reveals ingenuity and creativity, though requires a realistic assessment of the reliability of the interpretations. Amalarius’s theories from Liber officialis are examined so that the conclusions of the analysis may serve today as an aid to a better understanding of the liturgy of the Paschal Triduum.

In order to consider the natural sciences as a contemporary locus theologicus, I here examine the meaning and implications of the “dialogue between theology and the sciences”. Although widely used, this expression has different meanings. I try to clarify who the interlocutors of the dialogue are, where the dialogue takes place, and what the goals of the dialogue itself are. A coherent agenda to encourage the use of the sciences in theological work should include (a) the design and implementation of interdisciplinary curricula to help those scholars who are seriously interested to be trained in this field; (b) an emphasis on the role of philosophy and philosophical sources in the study of the sciences and theology; (c) going beyond the epistemological level and developing the dialogue also at the anthropological level; (d) the identification of a number of key issues for theological and religious studies that are expected to become more urgent in the coming years. Finally, the use of the sciences as a locus theologicus is expected to bear two main fruits: first, to offer a positive, speculative insight to the work of theologians and, second, to contribute to a responsible development of the dogmatic teachings of the Church.