They have passed on to me and to my Dominican fellow brothers from Toulouse, the doctrinal and institutional heritage of the venerable Thomistic school of Saint-Maximin. It is, in my view, a great privilege to be able to join in this way a living doctrinal tradition. As it is for most Thomists, the Summa Theologiae is my basic book, but the historical approach to the work of Saint Thomas clearly demands that it be used in relation to the whole of the 'Thomasian' corpus. It seems to me that Saint Thomas offers today an adequate model concerning the way of doing theology. Contrary to the artificial opposition between the quid homines senserunt and the veritas rerum which a certain kind of Thomism wanted to establish, the theological practice of saint Thomas attests that the quid homines senserunt is the privileged way to the veritas rerum.
Theology has a sapiential vocation.
The intellectus fidei aims at a contemplative synthesis that is not content with the fragmentation of theological disciplines. I am very happy with the establishment of the Thomas Institute of Utrecht. I am pleased with the project of the Thomas Institute to rediscover a Thomas who is properly a theologian, and I think that this orientation of the Institute is very promising. Furthermore, the theme of the next conference of the Thomas Institute meets my interest in reflecting upon Thomism as a doctrinal tradition. Until now, the Internet has been more an instrument for information for me than a tool to work with.