If you’re reading this, you’re a teacher of some sort–and you share that in common with the Dominican Friars.

Each person has a natural desire to learn and to teach others, Archbishop Anthony C. Fisher, O.P., Archbishop of Sydney, Australia, told us when he was in Washington this summer for the priestly ordination of seven friars of the Province of St. Joseph.

“Then Christians build on that through the sacrament of Baptism,” he said. “They’re given a share in Christ’s prophetic office that they must teach the world by their words and by their deeds.”

Ordination to the priesthood adds another level to the baptismal mandate, conferring upon priests and bishops a special duty to teach. 

“They have to speak not just of their own human wisdom or even of a general Christian wisdom about things,” explained Archbishop Fisher. “They have to represent Christ as the head, the thinking part of the Church as well as the leading part of the Church.”

Wretchedly deluded souls

The Dominicans have long excelled as the “thinking part” of the Church. St. Dominic was inspired to create the Order due to the experiences he had during a diplomatic mission he was sent on in 1203. 

According to an early history of the Order by Bl. Jordan of Saxony, St. Dominic found a “great number of souls…wretchedly deluded” by the Albigensian heresy in the area of Toulouse, France. The proprietor of the inn where he was staying was likewise “deluded,” so St. Dominic stayed up all night arguing with him. The innkeeper could not “resist the wisdom and spirit that spoke” through St. Dominic, and he returned to the Faith.

Once the Order was founded, St. Dominic quickly sent out his brethren to the great universities of Europe. Within mere decades of the Order’s founding, the Dominicans produced the Church’s model teacher, St. Thomas Aquinas, who is recognized as the Universal Doctor (Teacher) of the Church.
 

Today, the Dominican Friars worldwide, and the friars of the Province of St. Joseph in particular, still teach actively. Significant ministries of the friars include intellectual centers, such as Providence College in Providence, Rhode Island, and the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC. The Thomistic Institute brings hard-hitting intellectual conversations to college campuses and other venues across the globe. Various digital apostolates teach hundreds of thousands each year. All of this builds on the intelligent and engaging preaching that the faithful receive at parishes every day across the Province.

Go out to the world and … provoke?

The Dominican Friars’ robust activity comes at a time when participation in the life of the Church has declined significantly over the last few decades. According to Archbishop Fisher the culture used to be inherently Christian, and society’s institutions generally transmitted Christian values. 

“A lot of people, even people who would count themselves Christian, are in fact being inoculated by our culture to religion, to Christianity,” Archbishop Fisher said. “The culture’s teaching us again and again, it doesn’t matter.”

For him, this “very relativist” culture means Dominican priests “actually have to be provocateurs.”

“They have to go, one way or another, unsettle people [who are] comfortably going with the flow of the culture and say, ‘Hey, is that really making you happy? Is that giving you purpose? Is that giving you meaning in life?’” he said.

While a provocateur can come across as strident, that is not the approach of a Dominican provocateur. Archbishop Fisher’s episcopal motto is “Veritatem facientes in caritate,” which translates to “Speaking the truth in love.”

“We love the other person,” Archbishop Fisher said. “We want to share with them what we think will make them happy and make for a better life for them.”

“A life conducive to study”

Naturally, being able to reach people in a “very relativist” culture requires preparation.

Though Jesus himself is the true teacher, a priest is not excused from diligent preparation for his ministry. Archbishop Fisher pointed out that it takes about seven years of intellectual formation before ordination. (Many friars continue for further advanced studies after ordination.) 

Then each homily or lecture requires hours of preparation itself, he pointed out.

To bring the truth “requires a lot of study and a life conducive to study,” he said.

And the laity expect deep reflection from the Dominican Friars. 

“I think perhaps more than ever, people are searching for answers and for meaning and purpose,” Archbishop Fisher said.

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