St. Thomas Aquinas Forum
Each year, the St. Thomas Aquinas Theological & Catechetical Forum at Aquinas College offers an intensive study of a particular point of Roman Catholic doctrine or devotion, led by Aquinas College faculty members and other distinguished scholars. Attendance can be counted toward hours needed for diocesan catechist certification programs.
2010 St. Thomas Aquinas Forum
Champions of Orthodoxy: The Fathers of the Church
featuring Mike Aquilina, best-selling author and
EWTN program host
The closing Mass will be celebrated by the Most Reverend David R. Choby, Bishop of Nashville, on Saturday, Feb. 6 at 5:30 pm. As always, there will be opportunities for prayer and the Sacrament of Reconciliation at various times throughout the Forum.
To register, please click here for a 2010 brochure with registration form (333KB pdf) or contact the Office of Catechetics at (615) 297-7545, ext. 469.
Date: Friday and Saturday, February 5-6
Time:
Session I: Friday, Feb. 5, 1:00 pm to 5:30 pm
Session II: Saturday, Feb. 6, 8:00 am to 5:30 pm
Mass with Bishop Choby: Saturday, Feb. 6, 5:30 pm
Location: St. Cecilia Motherhouse,
801 Dominican Drive, Nashville View map
Registration fee:
(Includes continental breakfast and lunch on Saturday)
Sessions I & II: $100
Session II only: $60
Registration: Click here for a 2010 brochure with registration form. (333KB pdf)
Accommodations: Scarritt Bennett Center is offering discounted rates for Forum participants. Please call (615) 340-7500 or 1-866-420-5486 (toll-free) or email reservations@scarrittbennett.org for more information.
(Be sure to mention "Aquinas Forum" to ensure discounted rate.)
Forum Scholarship Dinner
(optional) Proceeds from this event help the Office of Catechetics extend need-based scholarships to catechists. Thank you for your support!
Date: Friday, February 5
Time: 6:30 pm
Location: St. Cecilia Motherhouse,
801 Dominican Drive, Nashville View map
Tickets: $40 per person, advance reservation only
RSVP: Please use 2010 Registration Form. (333KB pdf)
Keynote speaker: Mike Aquilina
A nationally known speaker, author, and television program host, Mike Aquilina has published more than twenty books on Catholic history, doctrine, and devotion, including TThe Fathers of the Church, The Mass of the Early Christians, Signs and Mysteries: Revealing Ancient Christian Symbols, and The Resilient Church. With Scott Hahn, he is co-host of seven Catholic television series airing on the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN). A former editor of New Covenant magazine and the Pittsburgh Catholic newspaper, Mike is currently executive vice-president of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology and a prominent contributor to the Catholic blogosphere at www.FathersOfTheChurch.com.
2010 Presenters
Richard Bulzacchelli
A popular instructor at Aquinas College, Richard Bulzacchelli holds several academic degrees including a master’s in Christian Philosophy from Marquette University, a master’s in Religious Studies from Providence College, and a licentiate in Sacred Theology (S.T.L) from the Dominican House of Studies. He earned a doctorate in Sacred Theology (S.T.D) in Systematic Marian Studies from the International Marian Research Institute (pending publication). Prior to joining the theology faculty at Aquinas College in 2004, Professor Bulzacchelli was a visiting instructor of philosophy at Saint Francis University in Loretto, Pennsylvania. In addition to penning a number of articles for a variety of scholarly, academic, and mainstream publications, Professor Bulzacchelli is also the author of Judged by the Law of Freedom: A History of the Faith-Works Controversy, and a Resolution in the Thought of St. Thomas Aquinas.
Reverend Mark Beckman
A native of Lawrenceburg, Tennessee who graduated from Sacred Heart Elementary School and Lawrence County High School, Reverend Mark Beckman received a B.A. in History from St. Ambrose College in 1984 and an M.A. in Religious Studies from the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium in 1988. In 1990, he was ordained a priest by the Most Reverend James D. Niedergeses at the Cathedral of the Incarnation in Nashville and assigned to Holy Rosary Parish in Donelson. Father Mark later served as a teacher and associate principal at Father Ryan High School until 1996, when he was appointed pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes and St. Michael parishes in Robertson County and director of the Catholic Youth Office and Search program for the Diocese of Nashville, where he has also served on the personnel board, as a dean, and a five-year term as chair of the Presbyteral Council. Father Mark was named pastor of St. Matthew Church in 2002 and remains director of the Youth Office.
Sister Mary Sharon, O.P.
Sister Mary Sharon, O.P. was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, and counts herself blessed to have been part of a devout Catholic family and to have been surrounded by good books from her earliest years. After a number of years as a member of a Catholic lay community, Sister entered the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia Congregation in 1991. She earned her undergraduate degree in Early Childhood Education at Kent State University, a Master’s degree in Elementary Education from Northwestern State University in Louisiana and, most recently, another Master’s degree in Religious Studies from Providence College in Rhode Island.
Reverend Richard Armstrong
Reverend Richard Armstrong is a priest of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church under the Eparchy (diocese) of St. Josaphat in Parma, Ohio. A Virginia native and a graduate of Virginia Military Institute with a double major in History and Modern Languages, Father Richard studied for the priesthood at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland. He earned a master’s degree in Theology with a concentration in Catechetics from Christendom College in Alexandria, Virginia, where he also received an Apostolic Catechetical Diploma. Ordained in 2009 under the ecclesial discipline of the Eastern Churches (which permits married men to become priests), Father Richard and his wife, Mother Emily, are blessed with six children. Father is currently pastor of St. Thomas the Apostle Byzantine Catholic Mission in Knoxville and serves as assistant director of the Office of Christian Formation for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Knoxville.
For more info...
Questions? Please contact the Office of Catechetics at (615) 297-7545 or by email.