Jaarboek Thomas Instituut 2006 - Thomas Instituut te Utrecht

HOLY, HOLY, HOLY 31
interpretation of Christ. Thus, renewal must begin with Christ as the
pre-eminent Holy One: the source of holiness in all its nonsacramental
and sacramental forms. In this way, theology can
become holy theology.
Conclusion
Ladies and Gentlemen, it only remains to me to express my thanks to
the members of the board of the Stichting Thomasfonds. Quite apart
from the actual person who now occupies the Chair, the wish for
such a Chair is a wish that I have supported for many years. As far as
we know, this is the only Chair in the Theology of Thomas Aquinas
that has ever been created, anywhere in the world. I hope that I shall
be able to make the expectations of this chair a reality. I also thank
the board of the former Catholic Theological University of Utrecht,
and of the University of Tilburg for their willingness to establish this
Extraordinary Chair.
I should also like to thank my colleagues for their collegial
support, in particular those working in the Thomas Instituut in
Utrecht. I hope that the creation of this Chair will contribute to the
welfare of the Instituut that was founded 17 years ago, in 1990, by
Ferdinand de Grijs. Herwi Rikhof is, and remains, the director of this
Instituut, which has achieved so many important results over the
years, that in the meantime, in a wide circle, people speak about the
'Utrecht approach'. 50
50 The attention to the mystery of God on the one hand (together with
attention to language) and the interwovenness of all the mysteries of faith on
the other is specifically 'Utrecht'. In the last two years, four international
publications have demonstrated the substantial contribution of Utrecht to the
discussion: Fergus Kerr (ed.), Contemplating Aquinas. On the varieties of
interpretation, London 2003, with contributions by Herwi Rikhof and Rudi
te Velde; Aquinas in Dialogue: Thomas for the Twenty-first Century, a
special issue of Modern Theology, also published as part of a book, with
contributions by Henk Schoot and Pim Valkenberg, 2004/1; Thomas
Weinandy, Daniel Keating and John Yocum, Aquinas on Doctrine. A
Critical Introduction, LondonlNew York 2004, with a contribution by Herwi
Rikhof; Rik van Nieuwenhove and Joseph Wawrykow (eds.), The Theology
of Thomas Aquinas, Notre Dame 2005, with contributions by Herwi Rikhof,
Harm Goris, Rudi te Velde and Carlo Leget. From the Editor's Preface:
"Major locales for the study of Aquinas find representation in the volume: