Fr. Aquinas Guilbeau
2012 Lincoln Fellow
Fr. Aquinas Guilbeau, O.P., a native of Louisiana, entered the Order of Preachers (the Dominicans) in 2005. After several years of pastoral work in New York City, Fr. Guilbeau began doctoral studies in moral theology at the University of Fribourg (Switzerland), where he completed a dissertation on St. Thomas Aquinas’s doctrine of the common good. Currently, Fr. Guilbeau serves as the University Chaplain and Vice President for Ministry and Mission at The Catholic University of America (Washington, DC). Fr. Guilbeau was a Lincoln Fellow in 2012.
What is your current position?
Since the summer of 2022, I have served as the University Chaplain and Vice President for Ministry and Mission at The Catholic University of America (Washington, D.C.). Previously, I taught Moral Theology at the Dominican House of Studies (also in D.C.), the seminary for the Dominican Friars of the Eastern United States.
How did you hear about the Claremont Institute?
I first learned of the Claremont Institute from a Dominican confrere who attended Claremont McKenna as an undergraduate. He was familiar with the Institute—through Professors Arnn and Kesler—and he encouraged me to apply for the Lincoln Fellowship.
What is your fondest memory of the Claremont Institute?
I thoroughly enjoyed my Lincoln Fellowship. The whole week was terrific, especially the hospitality, the camaraderie, and the presentations. But what I will never forget are the two small earthquakes that struck during the conference. They were a surprise. All in all, everyone took the tremors in good stride. The Californians in the group led the way. Professor Kesler didn’t even pause his lecture when one of the quakes hit.
Who would you hope the individual would be, if you could sit down and enjoy a conversation with an American Founder or any great thinker? What would you discuss?
I would love to spend an evening with Charles Carroll, the lone Catholic signer of the Declaration of Independence. I’ve long wondered how, as a Catholic, Carroll became the wealthiest and most erudite American patriot of the late 18th century.
In which one of the original 13 colonies, looking back on history, would you have wanted to live? Why?
New York, or New York City precisely. (Sorry, Upstate!) Ever since serving at the Church of St. Vincent Ferrer in Manhattan, I’ve been fascinated by the origins and history of the Big Apple.
What qualities do you believe are necessary for effective leadership?
In my experience, effective leaders strike a balance between magnanimity and humility. As magnanimous persons, leaders think big thoughts and love great goods, with an enthusiasm and zeal that inspires their teams to excellence. As humble persons, leaders acknowledge their natural and personal limits. They obey reality and utilize the strength and experience of others when necessary. Some leaders pull their teams from the front, others push their teams from behind, but the most effective leaders, I think, guide their teams magnanimously and humbly from within.
What do you think is the most difficult challenge you face in your more recent appointment of Catholic University’s first VP for Ministry and Mission?
Every Christian school faces the same mission challenge. The late Pope John Paul II described this challenge best when he wrote, referring to Catholic universities particularly: “By means of a kind of universal humanism a Catholic university is completely dedicated to the research of all aspects of truth in their essential connection with the supreme Truth, who is God. It does this without fear but rather with enthusiasm, dedicating itself to every path of knowledge” (Ex Corde Ecclesiae, 4). Grasping and maintaining the complementarity of faith and reason, of science and revelation, is difficult. Promoting it without embarrassment is even harder. The modern bias for reason over faith remains a prejudice difficult to overcome, even in the best Christian institutions.
What books are you currently reading?
Churchill: Walking with Destiny by Andrew Roberts, Deep Work by Cal Newport, The Formation of Christendom by Christopher Dawson, and The Life of Saint Catherine of Siena by Blessed Raymond of Capua.
What book, film, or speech has left a lasting impression on you and why?
To my mind, one of the more important speeches delivered in the early 21st century remains Pope Benedict XVI’s 2006 Regensburg Address. I return to it often. In it, the late pope challenges university communities to overcome the modern and post-modern fragmentation of knowledge into detached disciplines. He proposes for reunifying knowledge a return to the ancient appreciation of reason’s scope, one in which the whole of being stands as the object of human knowing and not just the physical, observable, and measurable parts of it. Reoriented by reason’s fuller scope, universities might aim again at truth that expresses the full scale of reality, and hence at love that embraces the full scale of goodness.
What is the most distinctive attribute/character of the people in the state where you grew up that you genuinely admire?
Among the Cajuns of South Louisiana, a person’s town and family remain his most important personal identifiers. “Where’re you from?” and “Who’s your daddy?” are still the first two questions one Cajun asks when meeting another. I love that.
And finally, would you share a few personal thoughts with us regarding the recent historic election of the first American Pope (Leo XIV) in the 2000-year history of the Catholic Church. Do you believe this may be the beginning of a profound reawakening for many, resulting in their renewed stories of faith?
Like everyone else watching the conclave coverage on May 8, I was surprised to see Cardinal Prevost walk out onto the balcony of St. Peter’s as Pope Leo XIV. Just that morning I was telling the students on campus that we would never see an American elected pope. But what a pleasant surprise Pope Leo has been! Not simply because he is an American, but more importantly because he is an Augustinian. That is how Pope Leo introduced himself to the world: “I am a son of St. Augustine, an Augustinian.” Pope Leo brings to the Chair of St. Peter the tradition of the Augustinian Order and a temperament shaped by an Augustinian worldview. When he speaks, Pope Leo reveals a serene realism regarding the fallenness of the world, as well as an unflappable joy and hope in the grace of Jesus Christ. He sees the present moment—and our lives in it—within the full contours of salvation history. If Pope Leo can help us to see what he sees—through his Augustinian lens—then a reawakening of faith might indeed sweep the globe.
