Vocation Discernment
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Vocation Office
Western Dominican Province
5890 Birch Court
Oakland, CA 94618-1626
(510)-596-1821
Our Vocations require a great deal of support, from the first moment they begin their novitiate until the last moments of their retirement. Please do conside visiting our donation page and helping form and sustain the priests and brothers who will serve you in the future, serve you now and have served you in the past.
Saints and Blesseds
The Order of Friars Preachers,
The Dominican Order,
has a beautiful history of learning, service and holiness manifested in its saints and blesseds of every age since its foundation by St. Dominic de Guzman. Do enjoy the periodic postings of such stories as are available from various sources, especially our own archives.
Religious Retirement
Our elderly and infirm friars receive the best care we have available to us, as in any family. We rely heavily on the donations of others for our own existence and thus when one of our own becomes incapable of further ministry due to age or infirmity, those same donations help us support the sometimes necessary special care required by such members of our communities.
We prefer to care for our elderly and infirm in our own houses so that the life of a religious community can be a part of a friars life as long as possible. This is also the most economical in many ways. We strive to use donations wisely. But sometimes a care facility is essential. As we, as a Province, do not benefit from the national collection for retired religious, we ask that you assist us in caring for these friars who have prayed, taught, served and ministered for so many years amomg the people of the Western United States and beyond.
Please, in your kindness, consider assisting us in this work of brotherly love.
Many thanks in advance.
Catholicism
It's just the right thing
Fr. Bartholomew Ruben de la Torre, OP
Fr. Bartholomew de la Torre was born on Jan. 29, 1940, in Los Angeles, CA, of Mexican immigrant parents. After 3 years of college, he entered the Order of Preachers (known also as the Dominicans because they were founded by St. Dominic in 1216 A.D.). Once in the Order, he earned his bachelor's degree, majoring in Thomistic Philosophy. This was followed by an M.A. in Thomistic Philosophy, an M.Div., and a second M.A. in Thomistic Theology, all from the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology, which is a founding member of the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, CA, and the only institutional presence there that is Thomistic, and strongly so.
Ordained a priest on June 16, 1967, he then spent a year as a hospital chaplain in Houston, TX, where he received a Diploma in Clinical Pastoral Education. Thereafter he received his Licentiate in Mediaeval Studies from the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies in Toronto, Canada. This was followed by a Ph.D. in medieval studies from the University of Toronto, majoring in the history of theology and minoring both in the history of philosophy and in Latin paleography (the disciplines of reading ancient writing and ancient shorthand, and of editing medieval manuscripts).
Upon receiving his doctorate, Father was posted for a year in Italy, and then for eight in Washington, D.C., as a member of the philosophy faculty at the Catholic University of America. In both assignments, he prepared for publication medieval manuscripts of the writings of his fellow Dominican priest, St. Thomas Aquinas.
From 1995 to 2002, Father was a chaplain at Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula, CA. This was followed by three years as Associate Pastor at St. Dominic´s Church in Benicia, CA, where he had been before in 1979-80; one of his duties both times was to lead a Scripture class, which he found invigorating. During this last tour of duty, he ended each class by playing a CD with ten minutes of classical music that reflected the theme of the discussion. Since July 1, 2005, Father has been Associate Pastor at the Western Dominicans’ mission in Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico, an assignment he is relishing.
In the course of 40 happy years as a priest, Fr. de la Torre has also been an associate pastor in Toronto and Scarborough, Canada; Los Angeles, CA; and Portland, OR. In his assignments he has taught elementary, high school and CCD religion, conducted adult seminars on Aquinas's Summa contra gentiles and lead Scripture classes. [updated December 17, 2007]
(Sept. 10, 2006, Parroquia de Sta. Maria de Guadalupe, Mexicali)
The Dominican Year
A listing of days liturgically special to the Order of Preachers as composed by Albert Buckley, O.P. and Bartholomew de la Torre, O.P.
WESTAF
Western St. Thomas Aquinas Foundation is dedicated to making the teaching and theology of St. Thomas Aquinas more accessible in the Western United States. Fr. Bartholomew created this foundation, find out how you can benefit or help with WESTAF!