 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!
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