Angelicum Conversations is a new interview series from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (the Angelicum) in Rome.
Each episode features thoughtful conversations with scholars, thinkers, and cultural leaders on theology, philosophy, and contemporary questions facing the Church and the world.
For full transcripts and show notes, visit: https://media.angelicum.it/online-series/angelicum-conversations/
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Why does Christianity begin with what seems to be bad news? Is original sin simply a pessimistic account of human nature, or does it ultimately reveal the hope of redemption?
Drawing on Sacred Scripture, St. Augustine, St. Anselm, St. Thomas Aquinas, and the Catholic theological tradition, Fr. White explains why the doctrine of original sin is ultimately good news. The conversation explores the woundedness of human nature, the necessity of grace, the relationship between original sin and evolution, and how Christ and the Virgin Mary reveal God's plan for humanity.
The discussion explores:
Why original sin is ultimately good news
Can reason discover original sin?
Augustine, Aquinas, and the development of the doctrine
Human nature, grace, and the Fall
Pelagianism, Jansenism, and Protestant views of sin
Original sin and evolutionary science
Baptism and the healing of human nature
Christ as the New Adam
The Virgin Mary and the Immaculate Conception
👉 Full transcript & show notes: https://media.angelicum.it/?post_type=online-series&p=8559&preview=true
📖 Angelicum Conversations is a new interview series from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (the Angelicum) in Rome. Each episode features thoughtful dialogue on theology, philosophy, and culture—conversations that reflect the Angelicum’s mission of serving the Church through study, contemplation, and teaching.
💬 Share your thoughts in the comments below—we’d love to hear your perspective.
👉 Explore more episodes in the Angelicum Conversations series: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnbhx2jnZ5Dd28o4qDsJVCldPx0C88zb4
🎥 Check out the Angelicum's new video series on Catholic Social Teaching: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnbhx2jnZ5DeWHdT4MNq_UAY0ChkgM-wo
🎓 Learn more about the Angelicum: https://angelicum.it/
Chapters:
0:00 Preview
0:50 Introduction
1:54 Why Original Sin Is Actually Good News
6:01 Did St. Augustine Invent Original Sin?
9:06 Can We Know Original Sin by Reason Alone?
13:57 Pelagianism, Jansenism, and Human Nature
21:33 How Is Original Sin Transmitted?
25:10 Baptism and the Restoration of Grace
32:34 Original Sin and Evolution
39:26 Why Didn't Jesus and Mary Have Original Sin
49:00 Closing Remarks
We Held These Truths: America at 250
Season 1 · Episode 10
Saturday, July 4, 2026 • Duration 01:00:32
In this episode of Angelicum Conversations, Fr. Thomas Joseph White, O.P. speaks with Fr. Michael Sherwin, O.P. about the 250th anniversary of the American Declaration of Independence and the enduring questions surrounding natural rights, democracy, religious freedom, and the common good.
Beginning with the famous words, “We hold these truths to be self-evident,” the discussion explores whether the principles at the heart of the American founding are truly self-evident, how human rights can be grounded, and what role religious and moral traditions play in sustaining democratic life.
Drawing upon the thought of John Courtney Murray, Alasdair MacIntyre, Alexis de Tocqueville, Leo XIII, Pius XII, and John Paul II, Fr. Sherwin reflects on the relationship between natural law and rights, the challenges posed by secularization, and the ongoing debate over whether the American experiment strengthens or weakens religious faith.
The conversation explores:
- The Declaration of Independence and the meaning of “self-evident truths”
- Whether natural rights are grounded in human nature or social convention
- Equality, liberty, and the philosophical foundations of democracy
- John Courtney Murray and the “American Proposition”
- Alasdair MacIntyre’s critique of modern rights discourse
- Why communities are necessary for recognizing and defending human dignity
- The Catholic experience in colonial America and the Maryland Toleration Act
- Religious freedom, pluralism, and the challenge of indifferentism
- The contributions of Catholics to the American founding
- Leo XIII, Pius XII, and the Catholic defense of ordered liberty
- Tocqueville’s “habits of the heart” and the future of democratic societies- Why healthy local communities remain essential for political freedom
The Leaky Ship of Metaphysics | Angelicum Conversation With Fr. Philip-Neri Reese
Season 1 · Episode 9
Friday, June 19, 2026 • Duration 51:00
In this episode of Angelicum Conversations, Fr. Adrian Patrick McCaffery, O.P. speaks with Fr. Philip-Neri Reese, O.P. about his new book: "Aquinas on Metaphysics as a Science".As we trace the history of metaphysics, beginning with Aristotle and engaging with Hume's famous challenge that scholastic metaphysics deserves to be committed to the flames as well as with contemporary thought, one wonders whether there truly is a metaphysics that meets even the most rigorous standards of Aristotelian episteme without giving everything away. Fr. Reese examines, inspired by Hume’s clarion call, the history of metaphysics and its development. What is metaphysics? Throughout history, has it met Aristotelian standards to be considered a true science, or does a new problem arise at every turn? In attempting to answer these questions, the discussion becomes an opportunity not only to discuss metaphysics but also to explore methodology and the study of philosophy in its entirety. The discussion explores:- Hume's Challenge: Why the call to dismiss metaphysics still resonates among contemporary scientists and philosophers.- The Leaky Hull Problem: How Aristotle's ambiguous theory of being created a recurring crisis for metaphysicians from Al-Farabi to Avicenna.- Aquinas's Solution: How he reconciles rigorous Aristotelian science, subject matter, properties, and principles, with the study of being itself.- The Properties of Being: A provocative re-reading of Aquinas, challenging the long-standing identification of the transcendentals (one, true, good) as the properties of being.- Three Kinds of Questions: Distinguishing exegetical, systematic, and speculative approaches to reading any philosopher.- Analytic Thomism: What the term really means, and how it differs from contemporary engagement with the Thomistic tradition.- Advice for Young Scholars: Why learning Latin, paleography, and engaging the understudied commentatorial tradition remain essential.
👉 Full transcript & show notes: https://media.angelicum.it/online-series/angelicum-conversations/episode-9-the-leaky-ship-of-metaphysics/📖 Angelicum Conversations is a new interview series from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (the Angelicum) in Rome. Each episode features thoughtful dialogue on theology, philosophy, and culture—conversations that reflect the Angelicum’s mission of serving the Church through study, contemplation, and teaching.
Beyond Biology? The Church’s Response to Posthumanism | Angelicum Conversations w/ Fr. Simon Gaine
Season 1 · Episode 8
Friday, May 22, 2026 • Duration 33:19
In this episode of Angelicum Conversations, Fr. Thomas Joseph White speaks with Fr. Simon Gaine about the latest document from the International Theological Commission, "Quo Vadis Humanitas?" (Where Are You Going, Humanity?). Drawing on theological anthropology, the conversation explores the future of the human race in the face of rapid technological shifts. Can science really offer us immortality? Or is our true destiny found elsewhere? Fr. Gaine examines the rise of transhumanism and posthumanism, contrasting these secular visions with the Christian hope of divinization where humanity is not left behind, but brought to its ultimate perfection in Christ. Ultimately, the conversation argues that human identity is both a gift and a task, steering toward Christ as the true accomplishment of history.
The discussion explores:
-The International Theological Commission (ITC): How its work continues the legacy of Vatican II.
-Transhumanism vs. Posthumanism: Challenges to human specificity and the dream of technological immortality.
-Divinization: Sharing in the divine life through grace and the "beatific vision".
-AI and Technology: AI as a pervasive environment that shapes modern life.
-Safeguarding Human Nature: The centrality of the material.
-spiritual unity and sexual difference (male and female).
-Disability and Finitude: What the experience of disability teaches us about human fragility.
-Mary as a Sign: The Assumption and the hope of the bodily resurrection.
👉 Full transcript & show notes: https://media.angelicum.it/online-series/angelicum-conversations/episode-8-where-is-humanity-going-transhumanism-divinization-and-the-future/
📖 Angelicum Conversations is a new interview series from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (the Angelicum) in Rome. Each episode features thoughtful dialogue on theology, philosophy, and culture—conversations that reflect the Angelicum’s mission of serving the Church through study, contemplation, and teaching.
How Does the Mind Know Reality? Aquinas on the Verbum Mentis |Angelicum Conversations w Therese Cory
Season 1 · Episode 7
Friday, April 24, 2026 • Duration 37:53
In this episode of Angelicum Conversations, Fr. Philip-Neri speaks with Professor Thérèse Cory of the University of Notre Dame about Aquinas’s understanding of the verbum mentis, or “mental word.”
What is a thought for Aquinas? Is the mind directed toward the world through an inner mental object—or is thinking better understood as a natural perfection of the intellect itself?
Drawing on medieval philosophy, Trinitarian theology, and the history of Thomistic interpretation, Professor Cory explains why the verbum mentis has played such an important role in Catholic thought, and why she believes a dominant modern reading of Aquinas gets it wrong.
The conversation explores Aquinas’s account of cognition, the development of the “immanent object” interpretation, the influence of early modern philosophy on later Thomism, and why recovering Aquinas’s original framework matters for theology today.
👉 Full transcript & show notes: https://media.angelicum.it/online-series/angelicum-conversations/episode-7-how-does-the-mind-know-reality/
📖 Angelicum Conversations is a new interview series from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (the Angelicum) in Rome. Each episode features thoughtful dialogue on theology, philosophy, and culture—conversations that reflect the Angelicum’s mission of serving the Church through study, contemplation, and teaching.
👉 Explore more episodes in the Angelicum Conversations series: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnbhx2jnZ5Dd28o4qDsJVCldPx0C88zb4
🎥 Check out the Angelicum's new video series on Catholic Social Teaching: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnbhx2jnZ5DeWHdT4MNq_UAY0ChkgM-wo
🎓 Learn more about the Angelicum: https://angelicum.it/
Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
1:41 What Is the Verbum Mentis?
2:56 Is Thinking an Inner Language?
4:05 Concept, Definition, and Intellectual Achievement
Christian Virtue in a Nietzschean Wasteland | Angelicum Conversations w/ Fr. Michael Sherwin
Season 1 · Episode 6
Friday, March 20, 2026 • Duration 41:45
In this episode of Angelicum Conversations, Fr. Thomas Joseph White speaks with Fr. Michael Sherwin about the moral and spiritual crisis of modern culture—what they describe as a “Nietzschean wasteland.”
Drawing on the thought of Friedrich Nietzsche, Elizabeth Anscombe, Alasdair MacIntyre, and St. Thomas Aquinas, the conversation explores a central question of our time: If belief in God fades, can morality survive?
Fr. Sherwin examines how contemporary culture often assumes a form of “self-created identity,” where individuals construct their own values and meaning. But does this lead to freedom—or to nihilism?
The discussion explores:
-Nietzsche’s diagnosis of modern moral collapse
-The rise of self-creation and the “disembodied will”
-Why modern ethics often lacks a foundation
-The recovery of virtue through community and tradition
-How Christian moral theology offers a path beyond nihilism
Ultimately, the conversation argues that the answer to the “wasteland” is not withdrawal or domination, but a renewed quest for truth, virtue, and human flourishing.
👉 Full transcript & show notes: https://media.angelicum.it/online-series/angelicum-conversations/episode-6-christian-virtue-in-a-nietzschean-wasteland
Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
1:29 What is the "Wasteland"?
5:35 A Nietzschean Diagnosis: Post-Christian Nihilism?
9:36 Self-Creation and Will to Power
14:13 Elizabeth Anscombe's Critique
23:26 Truisms are True & Rediscovering the Quest
Icons of the Icon | Fr. Wojciech Giertych on The Thomistic Renewal of Christian Ethics
Season 1 · Episode 5
Wednesday, February 25, 2026 • Duration 35:10
Is the moral life more like jazz improvisation or following orders?
In this episode of Angelicum Conversations, Fr. Thomas Joseph White, O.P., speaks with Fr. Wojciech Giertych, O.P.—Theologian of the Papal Household and Professor of Moral Theology at the Angelicum—about the renewal of Catholic moral theology in the Thomistic tradition.
Moving beyond a rule-centered or prohibition-focused approach to ethics, the conversation explores the vision articulated by Servais Pinckaers and rooted in St. Thomas Aquinas: Christian morality is ordered to happiness, freedom, and human fulfillment. The moral life is not primarily about avoiding sins, but about learning to love the true good, growing in interior liberty, and being transformed by grace.
The discussion ranges across:
-Why Christian morality is about happiness, not mere obligation
-How freedom grows through virtue and love of the good
-The difference between rule-following and moral creativity
-The role of grace in healing and elevating natural virtue
-Why the goal of the Christian moral life is to become “icons of the Icon”—conformed to Christ
The episode closes with a meditation on how beauty, art, and virtue shape the moral imagination.
👉 Full transcript & show notes: https://media.angelicum.it/online-series/angelicum-conversations/episode-5-icons-of-the-icon-the-thomistic-renewal-of-christian-ethics
📖 Angelicum Conversations is a new interview series from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (the Angelicum) in Rome. Each episode features thoughtful dialogue on theology, philosophy, and culture—conversations that reflect the Angelicum’s mission of serving the Church through study, contemplation, and teaching.
Philosophy Between Quietism and Activism | John Haldane on the Proper Task of Philosophy
Season 1 · Episode 4
Wednesday, January 21, 2026 • Duration 57:51
What is philosophy for? Should it simply describe the world as we find it, clarifying our concepts and leaving everything as it is? Or should it unsettle our assumptions, revise our thinking, and aim to change the world?
In this episode of Angelicum Conversations, Fr. Adrian McCaffery, O.P., speaks with Professor John Haldane about what he calls philosophy’s via media—a path between quietism and activism.
Drawing on figures from classical to modern to contemporary philosophy, Haldane explores competing conceptions of philosophy and their implications for metaphysics, ethics, and political thought.
The conversation examines two forms of quietism, which resist revising our ordinary ways of thinking, and two forms of activism, which seek to overturn established concepts and commitments.
Against both extremes, Haldane argues that philosophy must remain open to the possibility that our common beliefs are confused or mistaken, while also recognizing that those beliefs place real constraints on philosophical theorizing.
📖 Angelicum Conversations is a new interview series from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (the Angelicum) in Rome. Each episode features thoughtful dialogue on theology, philosophy, and culture—conversations that reflect the Angelicum’s mission of serving the Church through study, contemplation, and teaching.
Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
1:00 Two Paths for Philosophy
Are Natural Rights Worth Recovering? | Angelicum Conversations w/ Fr. Gregory Pine
Season 1 · Episode 3
Tuesday, December 16, 2025 • Duration 43:45
In this episode of Angelicum Conversations, Fr. Philip-Neri Reese speaks with Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P., about the place of natural rights within Catholic social teaching.
Drawing on Fr. Gregory’s Dies Academicus lecture at the Angelicum, the conversation explores why “rights talk” has fallen on hard times, how natural rights emerged in the Catholic tradition, and whether they are worth recovering today.
The discussion ranges from canon law and Thomistic theology to contemporary political polarization, generational shifts in moral discourse, and the Church’s evangelical mission. Fr. Pine argues that, properly understood, natural rights can serve as a bridge between natural law, public reason, and the Church’s vocation to defend human dignity in a fractured cultural landscape.
💬 Angelicum Conversations is a new interview series from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (the Angelicum) in Rome. Each episode features thoughtful dialogue on theology, philosophy, and culture—conversations that reflect the Angelicum’s mission of serving the Church through study, contemplation, and teaching.
Nicaea at 1700: The Creed That Changed the World | Angelicum Conversations with Prof. Lewis Ayres
Season 1 · Episode 2
Friday, November 7, 2025 • Duration 38:31
As the Church marks the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea (325–2025), Fr. Thomas Joseph White, O.P., Rector of the Angelicum, speaks with Prof. Lewis Ayres, one of the world’s leading experts on early Christian theology, about the enduring significance of Nicaea.
They discuss what the Council achieved, how its vision of Christ and the Trinity continues to shape Christian faith today, its role in Catholic-Orthodox dialogue, and the significance of Pope Leo XIV’s upcoming visit to Turkey to commemorate this milestone in Church history.
📖 Angelicum Conversations is a new interview series from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (the Angelicum) in Rome. Each episode features thoughtful dialogue on theology, philosophy, and culture—conversations that reflect the Angelicum’s mission of serving the Church through study, contemplation, and teaching.
💬 Share your thoughts in the comments below—we’d love to hear your perspective.
👉 Full transcript & show notes: https://media.angelicum.it/?post_type=online-series&p=8472&preview=true
📖 Angelicum Conversations is a new interview series from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (the Angelicum) in Rome. Each episode features thoughtful dialogue on theology, philosophy, and culture—conversations that reflect the Angelicum’s mission of serving the Church through study, contemplation, and teaching.
💬 Share your thoughts in the comments below—we’d love to hear your perspective.
👉 Explore more episodes in the Angelicum Conversations series: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnbhx2jnZ5Dd28o4qDsJVCldPx0C88zb4
🎥 Check out the Angelicum's new video series on Catholic Social Teaching: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnbhx2jnZ5DeWHdT4MNq_UAY0ChkgM-wo
🎓 Learn more about the Angelicum: https://angelicum.it/
Chapters:
0:00 Preview
0:28 Introduction
2:04 “We Hold These Truths”: The Meaning of the Declaration
5:06 Are Human Rights Really Self-Evident?
11:35 Rights, Natural Law, and MacIntyre’s Critique
15:12 The Down Syndrome Example: How Rights Become Visible
20:35 John Courtney Murray and the American Proposition
24:29 Equality, Human Nature, and Opportunity
26:15 Catholics in Early America and the Maryland Experiment
33:42 Did Religious Freedom Lead to Secularization?
39:14 Catholicism and the American Experiment
45:29 Are Catholics a Threat to Democracy—or Is Democracy a Threat to Catholics?
48:17 Leo XIII, Pius XII, and Ordered Liberty
52:01 Tocqueville and the Habits of the Heart
55:24 Rebuilding Civic Culture and Democratic Institutions
1:00:25 Closing Remarks
👉 Explore more episodes in the Angelicum Conversations series: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnbhx2jnZ5Dd28o4qDsJVCldPx0C88zb4
🎥 Check out the Angelicum's new video series on Catholic Social Teaching: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnbhx2jnZ5DeWHdT4MNq_UAY0ChkgM-wo
🎓 Learn more about the Angelicum: https://angelicum.it/
Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
1:00 Hume's Challenge: Why Metaphysics Still Matters
4:50 The Leaky Hull: Aristotle's Posterior Analytics and the Problem of Scientia
10:47 Al-Farabi and Avicenna: A History of Leaks
14:15 How Aquinas Finally Sealed the Hull
14:21 The Transcendentals: What Are the Real Properties of Being?
15:00 Three Kinds of Questions: Exegetical, Systematic, and Speculative
24:50 History of Philosophy vs. Philosophy: A False Divide?
29:42 What Is Analytic Thomism?
33:52 Bridging Thomism and Analytic Philosophy: A Conversation Across Traditions
37:44 Advice for Young Catholic Philosophers: Start with Latin
41:54 Must Thomists Study the Whole Thomistic Tradition?
47:52 Verdict: Does Aquinas's Ship Still Float?
50:26 Closing Remarks
👉 Explore more episodes in the Angelicum Conversations series: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnbhx2jnZ5Dd28o4qDsJVCldPx0C88zb4
🎥 Check out the Angelicum's new video series on Catholic Social Teaching: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnbhx2jnZ5DeWHdT4MNq_UAY0ChkgM-wo
🎓 Learn more about the Angelicum: https://angelicum.it/
Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
2:08 What is the International Theological Commission?
4:42 "Quo Vadis Humanitas?": Challenges to Human Nature 11:06 Transhumanism vs. Posthumanism
13:59 Divinization: Our True Future in Christ
19:26 AI and the Technological Environment
21:23 Mary: A Sign of the Body in the Resurrection
24:34 Safeguarding Human Nature: Soul, Body, and Sex 30:36 Disability and Human Finitude
33:34 Conclusion: A Document of Hope
5:56 Why the Verbum Mentis Matters for the Trinity
10:12 The Traditional “Immanent Object” Interpretation
13:59 Descartes and the Mind-World Gap
16:40 Neo-Scholasticism, Kant, and Later Thomism
18:38 Why Cory Thinks This Is Not Aquinas’s View
19:00 The Mind as a Nature Among Other Natures
21:45 Thinking as Part of the Natural World
25:28 Thought, Error, and Natural Perfection
28:45 So What Is the Verbum Mentis, Then?
34:53 Objections to the “Thought Interpretation”
38:16 Conclusion
27:35 The Necessity of Grace
31:24 Political Implications: Benedict Option, Integralism, Creative Minorities?
40:25 Reading Recommendations & Conclusion
Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
1:30 Servais Pinckaers & Renewal of Moral Theology
3:51 William of Ockham v. Thomas Aquinas
7:37 Human Freedom & Growth in Liberty
9:54 Jazz Improvisation & Moral Creativity15:06 What About Grace?
19:17 Infused Moral Virtue
24:16 What About Law?
28:26 Sanctity as the Meeting of Weakness with Grace
30:11 Morality, Creativity, Beauty, & the Arts
34:26 Conclusion: Icons of the Icon
6:54 Two Kinds of Quietism
12:04 Four Oxford Women
19:48 Two Kinds of Activism
33:32 A Middle Path?
38:27 Public Philosophy
40:54 Progress in Philosophy?
49:06 Thomism & Philosophy
57:18 Conclusion
0:50 Defining Terms: Rights, Natural Rights, & Catholic Social Teaching
5:03 Basic Principles of CST & Natural Rights
8:13 What's the Problem with Rights?
12:04 Do We Need "Rights Talk"?
16:06 Should the Church Use "Rights Talk"?
21:22 Polarization, Power, & Truth Claims
25:43 Natural Rights & the Church's Witness
34:03 Optimism About the Possibility of Reasonable Discourse
36:49 Dangers of Disembodied Discourse & Need for Sacramental Encounter
