Cardinal Mahony Dedicates Science Building
to St. Albert the Great
(Spring 2000 Newsletter)
Below a Foucault pendulum suspended in a two-story
sunlit atrium, Cardinal Roger Mahony presided over ceremonies
dedicating a new science building on the campus of Thomas
Aquinas College to the Church’s patron of the sciences,
St. Albert the Great, on Palm Sunday, April 16. Albertus Magnus
Science Hall, the eighth permanent structure on the California
campus, features five laboratories and four classrooms, and
will permit students to reproduce some of the ground-breaking
experiments of modern science.
President Thomas E. Dillon gave special
recognition to three foundations and one couple whose gifts
were chiefly responsible for funding construction of the 15,000
square foot mission-style building: The Fritz B. Burns Foundation,
The Weingart Foundation, The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation,
and Dr. and Mrs. William W. Smith of Beverly Hills. Dr. Smith
is Chairman of the Thomas Aquinas College Board of Governors
and of the Science Building Committee.
"All disciplines, sciences and teaching
about the world and about human life that we pursue must have,
as their final purpose, to bring us to a knowledge of the
truth and to the worship of the true God," said Cardinal
Mahony to a crowd of more than 500. "Today we ask God’s
blessing on this center of seeking. . . and ask that those
entrusted with the education of young people in this institution
may teach their students how to join the discoveries of human
wisdom with the truth of the Gospel."
Also dedicated was a new courtyard with
a tiled image of Our Lady of Guadalupe and a fountain. Landscaped
terraces and an upper courtyard in front of the St. Joseph
Commons were also part of the building project.
A Palm Sunday Procession and Mass preceded
the dedication in St. Bernardine Library. Los Angeles Auxiliary
Bishop Thomas J. Curry assisted in the dedication ceremonies.
Immediately following dedication of the
building, guests enjoyed a buffet lunch and tours of Albertus
Magnus Science Hall. Of special interest was the two-storied
Foucault pendulum which swings an arc according to the rotation
of the earth. Lining the halls are scientific display cases
containing rare insects and butterflies and framed posters
of classical experiments and scientists.
St. Albert was proclaimed a "Doctor
of the Church" in 1931 and made universal patron of the
natural sciences ten years later. His most famous pupil was
Thomas Aquinas.
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