ICUSTA welcomes Instituto Santo Tomás of the Fundación Balmesiana

August 2019

 

At the recent Biennial Conference in Houston, the Executive Committee unanimously approved the incorporation of the Instituto Santo Tomás, of the Fundación Balmesiana, as an official member of ICUSTA’s network. It is now the 29th current member of ICUSTA and the 4th non-university organization which forms part of the network.

The Director of the Institute, Dr. Enrique Martínez, expressed his joy for the association of their Institution with ICUSTA and his disposition to contribute to our worldwide council with their specialty, the knowledge of the thought of Saint Thomas Aquinas.

The Instituto Santo Tomás was founded on March 7, 2002 in Barcelona, Spain, by agreement of the Fundación Balmesiana’s Board of Trustees. This private canonical Foundation was recognized by the Apostolic Administrator of Barcelona in 1939 as the continuation of the academic activity of the Balmes Library, founded in 1923.

The Institute has been notably enriched by the contributions of the Thomist School of Barcelona, above all by the magisterium of Francisco Canals Vidal, as well as by the close relationship with the center of SITA (Società Internazionale Tommaso d’Aquino) in Barcelona.

It annually organizes courses, lectures, academic encounters, and conferences all oriented to its ends, which are three: the study and diffusion of the thought of Saint Thomas Aquinas, the study and diffusion of Catholic Culture in the light of the Saint’s thought, and the analysis of contemporary culture in that same light.

It also publishes the renowned philosophical journal Espíritu, created in 1952: www.revistaespiritu.org.

The relationship between these institutions and ICUSTA dates back to at least 2005, when the closing of the Sixth Biennial Conference of our network was held at the Assembly Hall of the beautiful modern gothic building of the Fundación Balmesiana and its Institute, on the street Duran i Bas 9-11, in Barcelona.

For more information about the Institute, one can visit their official website.

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